Hand
Jean (Hans) Arp
French, born Germany (Alsace). 1886–1966
1941-42
A small marble relief by Jean (Hans) Arp that abstracts a hand into a smooth, biomorphic form, exploring the boundary between representation and spontaneous organic shape.
It reads like a fossilized imprint or softened cast of a hand—rounded bulges and shallow depressions in warm, veined marble catch soft light so the gesture feels both familiar and oddly elemental against the wall.
Made in Arp’s mature, Surrealist-influenced phase, the piece turns a bodily motif into a pared-down biomorph, helping to expand modern sculpture’s vocabulary toward chance, organic form, and quiet ambiguity.
Medium
Marble
Dimensions
6 5/8 x 7 7/8 x 1 3/8" (16.7 x 20 x 3.5 cm)
Classification
Department
Credit
Gift of Mme. Jean Arp in memory of René d'Harnoncourt
Accession
118.1969
Palette
Art Terms
Exhibitions
