The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of August 18, 2026

A vertically oriented gouache drawing on beige paper features an irregular, central cluster of colored rectangles and squares. Three columns form a group with curved vertical edges and a slanted base. On the left, dark and bright blues stack over gray. The middle column features purple and navy blocks. To the right, a grid of small multicolored squares sits above a large red rectangle, a tiny yellow square, and a tall, vibrant orange form.

Free Vertical-Horizontal Rhythms

1919

Sophie Taeuber-Arp

(Swiss, 1889–1943)

Switzerland

Frame: 37.6 x 28.6 x 3.8 cm (14 13/16 x 11 1/4 x 1 1/2 in.); Sheet: 30.3 x 21.5 cm (11 15/16 x 8 7/16 in.)

Severance and Greta Millikin Purchase Fund 2024.29

Catalogue raisonné: Schmidt 1919/4

Location: Not on view

Did You Know?

Sophie Taeuber-Arp was married to another artist, Jean Arp, with whom she occasionally collaborated.

Description

Free Vertical-Horizontal Rhythms belongs to a series in which Sophie Taeuber-Arp aimed to capture dynamic elements in a fundamentally two-dimensional medium. It presents square and rectangular fields of color fit into a slightly undulating grid, suggesting motion. Among the most influential women to work within abstraction during the early 20th century, Taeuber-Arp worked between media to create such compositions, exploring embroidery, painting, sculpture, and even theater design.

Estate of the artist, by descent to Marguerite Arp
Estate of Marguerite Arp [1902-1994]
by 1971-before 1978
(Annely Juda Fine Art, London)
by 1978-before 1986
(Galerie Denise René, Paris/New York)
1986
(sale, Christie’s, New York, November 20, 1986, no. 131)
Johannes Wasmuth [1936-1997], Rolandseck, Germany
Wasmuth estate, Rolandseck, Germany
Stiftung Arp e.V., Berlin/Rolandswerth
2023-2024
(Hauser & Wirth, New York, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art on behalf of Stiftung Arp e.V.)
2024-
Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
Schmidt, Georg. Sophie Taeuber-Arp. Basel: Holbein Verlag, 1948. Mentioned: p. 128, no. 1919/4.
Dada: Dokumente einer Bewegung. Exh. Cat. Düsseldorf: Kunstverein für die Rheinlande und Westfalen, 1958. Mentioned: p. [17], no. 103.
Staber, Margit. Masters of Early Constructive Abstract Art. Exh. Cat. New York: Denise René, 1971. Mentioned: [n.p.]
The Non-Objective World, 1914-1924. Exh. Cat. London: Annely Juda Fine Art, 1978. Mentioned: no. 155.
Koella, Rudolf. Konstruktive Kunst 1915-45: Dreissiger Jahre Schweiz. Exh. Cat. Winterthur: Kunstmusuem Winterthur, 1981. Mentioned: no. 213 [n.p.].
Impressionist and Modern Drawings and Watercolors. New York: Christie’s, 1986. Mentioned and reproduced: p. 44, no. 131.
Kuthy, Sandor, ed. Sophie Taeuber – Hans Arp: Künstlerpaare - Künstlerfreunde: Dialogues d’artistes - résonances. Exh. Cat. Bern: Kunstmuseum Bern, 1988. Mentioned and reproduced: p. 112, no. 35.
Gohr, Siegfried, ed. Sophie Taeuber-Arp, 1889-1943. Exh. Cat. Rolandseck: Arp Museum Bahnhof, 1993. Mentioned: p. 172; Reproduced: p. 80.
Mahn, Gabriele. “Sophie Taeuber-Arp.” In Karo Dame: Konstruktive, Konkrete und Radikale Kunst von Frauen von 1914 bis heute, edited by Beat Wismer. Exh. Cat. Aarau: Aargauer Kunsthaus, 1995. Mentioned and reproduced: p. 165.
Vögele, Christoph. Variations: Sophie Taeuber-Arp, Arbeiten auf Papier / Works on Paper. Exh. Cat. Solothurn: Kunstmuseum Solothurn, 2002. Mentioned and reproduced: p. 12.
Padberg, Martina. Farbe und Form: Sophie Taeuber-Arp im Dialog mit Hans Arp. Exh. Cat. Frankfurt am Main: Kulturforum ALTANA, 2002. Mentioned: p. 135, no. 16.
Lulinska, Agnieszka, Brigitte Lucke, Walburga Krupp. Hans Arp, Sophie Taeuber-Arp: Exploracions mútues. Exh. Cat. Palma de Mallorca: Fundació Sa Nostra, 2003. Mentioned: p. 178, no. 56; reproduced: p. 56.
Duplaix, Sophie and Marcella Lista, eds. Sons & Lumières: Une histoire du son dans l’art du XXe siècle. Exh. Cat. Paris: Centre Pompidou, 2004. Mentioned: p. 371; reproduced: p. 154.
Hemus, Ruth. Dada’s Women. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2009. Mentioned and reproduced: p. 75-76.
Ego, Renaud and Claude Weil-Seigeot. Atelier Jean Arp et Sophie Taeuber. Clamart: Fondation Arp, 2012. Mentioned: 277; reproduced: p. 91.
Umland, Anne and Walbura Krupp, eds. Sophie Taeuber-Arp: Living Abstraction. Exh. Cat. New York: Museum of Modern Art, 2021. Mentioned: p. 61, 317, no. 34; reproduced: p. 61.
Sophie Taeuber-Arp: Online Oeuvre Catalogue (https://sophietaeuberarp.org), Sophie Taeuber-Arp Research Project (STARP), accessed on May 14, 2024. Mentioned and reproduced: no. 98.
Dada: Dokumente einer Bewegung. Kunstverein für die Rheinlande und Westfalen, Düsseldorf (September 5 – October 19, 1958). The Non-Objective World, 1914-1924. Annely Juda Fine Art, London (June – September, 1978). Masters of Early Constructive Abstract Art. Denise René Inc., New York (October 1971). Dreissiger Jahre Schweiz: Konstruktive Kunst, 1915-45. Kunstmusuem Winterthur (September 13 – November 8, 1981). Sophie Taeuber – Hans Arp: Künstlerpaare - Künstlerfreunde: Dialogues d’artistes - résonances. Kunstmuseum Bern (September 2 – November 6, 1988). Sophie Taeuber-Arp, 1889-1943. Arp Museum Bahnhof Rolandseck (February 10 – April 12, 1993); Kunsthalle Tübingen (October 3 – November 21, 1993); Städtische Galerie im Lenbachhaus, Munich (January – March 1994); Staatliches Museum Schwerin (March 27 – June 12, 1994). Karo Dame: Konstruktive, Konkrete und Radikale Kunst von Frauen von 1914 bis heute. Aargauer Kunsthaus (May 28 – July 30, 1995). Farbe und Form: Sophie Taeuber-Arp im Dialog mit Hans Arp. Kulturforum ALTANA, Frankfurt am Main (June 18 – July 28, 2002); Stiftung Schleswig-Holsteinische Landesmuseen (August 4 – September 29, 2002). Hans Arp, Sophie Taeuber-Arp: Exploracions mútues. Fundació Sa Nostra, Palma de Mallorca (February 20 – April 16, 2003). Sons & Lumières: Une histoire du son dans l’art du XXe siècle. Centre Pompidou, Paris (September 22 – January 3, 2004). Sophie Taeuber-Arp: Living Abstraction. Museum of Modern Art, New York (November 1, 2020 – February 15, 2021); Tate Modern, London (July 13 – October 17, 2021).
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https://www.clevelandart.org/art/2024.29