Sophie taeuber-arp, composizione dada (tsta con piatto), 1920

Sophie Taeuber-Arp numbers among the pioneers of 20th century abstract geometric art. As a German, a Swiss and a French national, she influenced the course of European art and was acknowledged by art historians such as Willy Rotzler (1917–1994) as a “key figure and perhaps the actual initiator” of Swiss Concrete Art. She grew up in Switzerland, studying both there and in Germany. Later, thanks to her teaching position in Zurich, even after moving to France she would still make frequently trips back to Switzerland. She was active in the artists’ movements known as “Dada”, “Das Neue Leben” (The New Life), “Cercle et Carré” (Circle and Square), “Abstraction-Création” and “Allianz”, and is regarded as one of the most innovative artists of her time.