CORY REYNOLDS | DATE 7/17/2021

In 'Sophie Taeuber-Arp: Living Abstraction,' every work is an experiment

“Composition” (1930) is reproduced from Sophie Taeuber-Arp: Living Abstraction, published to accompany the definitive survey currently on view at Tate, en route to The Museum of Modern Art, New York, in November 2021. “Only when we go into ourselves and attempt to be entirely true to ourselves will we succeed in making things of value, living things, and in this way help to develop a new style that is fitting for us,” the artist is quoted by curators Anne Umland and Walburga Krupp. And indeed Taeuber-Arp refused to limit herself, always moving between art and craft at the very edge of the avant-garde, producing costumes, choreography, marionettes, jewelry, textiles, sculpture, painting and much more. Today, this highly-anticipated exhibition catalog feels as sparkling and alive as any on our list. Every work in it is fresh, original and experimental.