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SOPHIE TAEUBER-ARP: TODAY IS TOMORROW
Aargauer Kunsthaus and Kunsthalle Bielefeld
Edited by Thomas Schmutz and Friedrich Meschede
Zurich: Scheidegger & Spiess, 2014
English Edition
Hardcover with Dust Jacket
288 pages
ISBN 978-3-85881-757-0
A scarce, out-of-print English-language exhibition monograph devoted to Sophie Taeuber-Arp, one of the most innovative and interdisciplinary figures of twentieth-century modernism.
Published in connection with the major retrospective presented at the Aargauer Kunsthaus in Aarau and the Kunsthalle Bielefeld, Today Is Tomorrow was described upon publication as the most comprehensive English-language book on Taeuber-Arp’s work. It remains an important reference for her painting, sculpture, drawing, textiles, furniture, architecture, interior design, scenography, marionettes, dance, and teaching.
Unlike earlier studies that often separated Taeuber-Arp’s fine art from her work in textiles and applied design, this publication presents the full range of her practice as a connected modernist achievement.
THE PUBLICATION
The volume draws extensively upon museum holdings and private collections, reproducing numerous works that had either never before been published or had remained outside public view for decades.
Richly illustrated throughout, principally in color, it includes approximately 300 images presenting Taeuber-Arp’s remarkably varied production across:
Painting and geometric abstraction
Drawing and works on paper
Textile and embroidery designs
Beaded objects and applied arts
Sculpture and turned-wood objects
Dada marionettes, costumes, and performance
Furniture and interior design
Architecture, including the Aubette and her studio house
The volume also contains scholarly essays, newly examined correspondence, biographical material, a bibliography, an index of illustrated works, and contributor Schmutz
Friedrich Meschede
Medea Hoch
Walburga Krupp
Sarah Burkhalter
Maike Steinkamp
Brigitte Maier
Rahel Beyerle
Rudolf Suter
Sigrid Schade
WHY THIS CATALOGUE IS IMPORTANT
Sophie Taeuber-Arp was a central participant in Zürich Dada and a pioneering figure in geometric abstraction, Constructivism, textile design, performance, and modern interiors.
Her work was long discussed primarily in relation to her husband, Jean Arp, or divided artificially between “fine” and “applied” art. Today Is Tomorrow helped correct that limited interpretation by presenting Taeuber-Arp as an independent and exceptionally versatile modernist whose work moved freely among art, craft, architecture, movement, and design.
The book is particularly valuable for its substantial treatment of textiles and applied arts—areas frequently omitted from earlier accounts of her career—and for its presentation of works drawn from private collections.
The English edition is now difficult to locate. At the time this listing was prepared, AbeBooks showed no available used or new copies under this ISBN, while specialist art-book dealers have offered copies at substantially above the original publication price.
PUBLICATION DETAILS
Title: Sophie Taeuber-Arp: Today Is Tomorrow
Editors: Thomas Schmutz and Friedrich Meschede
Institutions: Aargauer Kunsthaus and Kunsthalle Bielefeld
Publisher: Scheidegger & Spiess
Place of Publication: Zurich
Date: 2014
Language: English
Format: Hardcover with original dust jacket
Pagination: 288 pages
Illustrations: Approximately 300, predominantly in color
ISBN: blue cloth-covered boards with black lettering, preserved in the original pictorial dust jacket.
CONDITION
Near Fine in a Near Fine dust jacket.
The blue cloth binding remains clean and fresh, with a firm, square text block. The interior is clean and unmarked, and the illustrations remain bright. The original dust jacket is present and well preserved.
Please examine all photographs carefully, as they form an important part of the condition description.
A particularly attractive copy of an increasingly scarce and highly regarded reference work, suitable for collectors and readers interested in Sophie Taeuber-Arp, Dada, Constructivism, geometric abstraction, women modernists, textile design, architecture, and the interdisciplinary history of twentieth-century art.
