Hans Arp

Arp, Hans (Strasburg, 1887-1966, Basel), also Jean Arp, was a painter and graphic artist, a sculptor in stone and wood, and a poet who wrote French as well as German poetry. He studied in Weimar and Paris, and in 1911 joined the group of artists Der blaue Reiter. His early verse is conventional. In 1916 he was one of the founders of Dada (see Dadaismus) in Zurich. His later poetry is composed without heed to grammatical connections, proceeding in a series of dream-like word associations, the absurdity of which corresponds to Arp's conviction of the meaninglessness of the universe.

Arp's poetic publications (which often contain variants of poems already published) include der vogel selbdritt, die wolkenpumpe (both 1920), Der Pyramidenrock (1924), Konfigurationen, Weißt du schwarzt du (both 1930), Des taches dans le vide (1937), Wortträume und schwarze sterne (1953, contains a selection of his work from 1911 on), Worte mit und ohne Anker (1957), Mondsand (1960), Sinnende Flammen, and Vers le blanc infini (both 1961). Gesammelte Gedichte (3 vols.) appeared 1963-84. Unsern täglichen Traum (1955) is autobiographical.