Jean Arp (Hans Arp) was born in Strasbourg in 1886 and spent his formative years between France, Germany and Switzerland. In 1912 he met Wassily Kandinsky, contributed to the Der Blaue Reiter almanac and exhibited alongside artists associated with the group. In 1915 he moved to Zurich to escape German mobilisation. There he became a central figure in the Dada movement and took part in the activities of the Cabaret Voltaire. He later helped establish the Cologne Dada group with Max Ernst and Johannes Theodor Baargeld. In 1925 he participated in the first Surrealist exhibition in Paris and, in 1931, joined Abstraction-Création. He continued to experiment with different materials and techniques, creating new configurations through collage, relief and sculpture. In 1942, after taking refuge in southern France, he moved to Zurich with Sophie Taeuber-Arp, where he remained until the end of the war.