Exhi­bi­tion at the Arp Muse­um

Net­work Paris
Abstrac­tion-Créa­tion 1931–1937

5 July 2025 to 11 Jan­u­ary 2026

Between 1931 and 1937, an inter­na­tion­al net­work based in Paris fought against fas­cism for the free­dom of art: the group Abstrac­tion-Créa­tion, whose fluc­tu­at­ing mem­ber­ship num­bered as many as nine­ty, includ­ing Jean Arp and Sophie Taeu­ber-Arp, Alexan­der Calder, Bar­bara Hep­worth, and Piet Mon­dri­an. This is the first exhi­bi­tion on this pio­neer­ing asso­ci­a­tion of artists since the 1970s.

As a cen­ter of the avant-garde, Paris became a last refuge as nation­al­ist move­ments spread to every part of Europe. Since there was vir­tu­al­ly no mar­ket for abstract art, the mem­bers of Abstrac­tion-Créa­tion were forced to cre­ate their own orga­ni­za­tion­al struc­tures inde­pen­dent of the salons and gal­leries. This multi­gen­er­a­tional, lib­er­al, pro­gres­sive, and vision­ary group set about unit­ing all the dif­fer­ent strands of nonob­jec­tive art. The whole spec­trum is on dis­play in this exhi­bi­tion, from rigid com­po­si­tions and Purist grids to vibrant, organ­ic-look­ing forms at play. And sev­en con­tem­po­rary artists from around the world demon­strate that the top­ic is as time­ly as ever.

Exhib­it­ed Artists from the Group Abstrac­tion-Créa­tion

Jean Arp, Willi Baumeis­ter, Eti­enne Beothy, Max Bill, Alexan­der Calder, Robert Delau­nay, Theo van Does­burg, Otto Fre­undlich, Naum Gabo, Lau­re Garcin, Albert Gleizes, Jean Gorin, Jean Hélion, Bar­bara Hep­worth, Auguste Herbin, Mainie Jel­lett, Fran­tišek Kup­ka, Bart van der Leck, Lás­zló Moholy-Nagy, Piet Mon­dri­an, Mar­low Moss, Kurt Schwit­ters, Hen­ryk Stażews­ki, Władysław Strzemińs­ki, Sophie Taeu­ber-Arp, Georges Van­tonger­loo, Paule Véze­lay, Friedrich Vordem­berge-Gilde­wart

Con­tem­po­rary Artists

Rana Begum, Angela Bul­loch, Daniel Buren, Imi Knoebel, Timo Nasseri, Kai Schiemenz, Beat Zoder­er