Sophie Taebeur-Arp at The Tate Modern

There are a couple of things that just make sense to me, like a properly made cup of tea. There are also a few things that don’t make sense to me, for example being told that paying £3 for a cup of tea is not normal. (I have lived in London all my life, I am desensitised to these things). But of all the things, both big and small, that make sense is having exhibitions about women artists. Especially those who like geometric art because it's maths. And maths just makes sense.

However, did I know anything about Sophie Taeuber-Arp (1889-1943) when I went along to see her exhibition at the Tate? Nope, not a damn thing. I like surprises! The chase. The discovery - The wanderlust into the artistic realm. (Apologies for the pretentiousness, but its accurate). Basically, this woman was boho-chic before the influencers got hold of it. If she were alive today, those cali-gal Coachella loving hipster-influencer-do-it-for-the-gram people would quail in the wake of Sophie Taeuber- Arp. This girl has game. In the early photographs of her time in art schools she was already experimenting with Dada, dance, performance studies and geometry. She was a self proclaimed architect in a time when that would seem laughable, she could make marionettes and jewellery and paintings that would rival that of the slightly better know, Mondrian. 

So let's take a ride round her art, we start off at art school and the first world war. Sophie, being neutral fled to Switzerland where she taught at the trade school there. Looking at examples of some of her earliest work, the geometry and the off handed symmetry is soothing to look at. Even her foray into whimsy is delightful to look at. Her ‘Abstract Motif: Knights. Vertical Horizontal Composition’ 1917 is a perfect example of this period. These paintings are simply done, but less is more and sometimes the simplest ideas are the most effective. The shapes are basic, the colour scheme doesn’t stray from the symmetry of the piece. The Knight themselves have this fairytale wonder to them, particularly in the eyes of the knight and the swish of the horses tale. It is childlike without is being resigned to the realm of ‘childish’ because its deep colour scheme matures the playfulness. 

‘Abstract Motif: Knights. Vertical Horizontal Composition’ 1917

But, we must talk about those marionettes! These have to be the highlight of the exhibition! They are just wonderful to behold. They were made for the play “King Stag”, their characters taking the lead from the commedia d’ellarte. There is a magic to them, they are wonderfully dada- if dadaism lost its footing and fell into the world of Cinderella, Rumplestiltskin and the kind. They are all hand made, hand painted, decorated in gold and feathers whilst their faces leer at you. Their designs are reminiscent of Chinese opera, each face painted to the style and markings of the character tropes, are they pale? Are they colourful? Maybe yes, maybe no. But they are distinct from one another. They are mischievous certainly, but you cannot help but be charmed.

Marionettes: King Stag

But then we move on, as we have established in this fantastic exhibition, Sophie was interested in geometry, architecture and interior design. Her showcase of stained-glass, might at first appear, well, a little basic. Simple squares and triangles of different coloured glass make up these windows. But here is what’s interesting about them: when one thinks of stained glass one thinks of churches or the North Rose window at the Notre Dame in Paris. Maybe something biblical? Certainly not something Art Deco before Art Deco was even a thing. They aren’t your standard windows either, they’re small - maybe a little bigger than an A4 sheet of paper, to something as long as a scroll of parchment: landscape. You get to see the architectural plans for this house, I mean: eat your heart out Zaha Hadid because Taeuber-Arp was an architect before women architects were taken seriously and not laughed at. I mean the woman designed and built her own damn house for crying out loud. Ah you’re wondering about the husband? Who says no to a free house?

But back to geometry. Our incumbent theme. Because her later work became (if you can believe it) more ambitious, but simpler. For example ‘Relief’ 1936. At face value it looks like an inversion of negative spaces (the circular cut outs) against a black backdrop. But then we switch to the side, and the change of perspective shows an entirely different story. The white and navy circles aren’t circles, but cones protruding from the black foreground, the circular cutouts seems to have vanished. Its understated, but the geometry involved serve the viewer this fabulous optical illusion. Just because its geometry the soothing mathematical design of her work isn’t all that it appears to be.

Relief’ 1936.

Then we move to the last room in this tour of Taebeur-Arp’s life. It a small room, but these are drawings. They are exploratory, a little looser and more free flowing than the previous rooms. Sure geometry remains, but it isn’t the be all and end all of this room. Take for example the ‘Movement of Lines’ 1940. If anything it looks like an abstract version of the `London Underground. 

‘Movement of Lines’ 1940

I’m not being facetious here, it genuinely does! The majority of the colours are represented, and the movement of each line is so free flowing and meandering, much like the underground itself! There are also a few charming pieces here, like her illustrations for her husbands work, where she does minimalist design of seashells, just looking at them you see just the simple shape of them, the outline but also the tell tale spiralling inward curse all seas shells beautifully have.

So all in all where does this exhibition leave the viewer? Well, it leaves us a little forlorn. We have only just seen a snapshot of what that woman could do before her untimely death. It was a life short-lived, and as she was going through the motions of her life so was her artistic development- unfortunately, she was cut off in her prime. The woman fled the Nazi’s, war and remained neutral whilst her artistic practices were flourishing. The world was falling apart, but her world was geometrically designed. Perhaps that why I found it so soothing. 

Sophie Taebeur-Arp is on at the Tate Modern, London until 17th October 2021