Swiss artist Sophie Taeuber-Arp (1889–1943) was a pioneer of the twentieth-century avant-garde. Remarkably versatile and immensely gifted, she produced an oeuvre that encompasses the entire range of the modernist movement, from applied and fine art and dance to architecture, interior design, and teaching.

This volume offers a close look at one of Taeuber-Arp’s most important works, Equlibre. Created in 1931, it marked the beginning of Taeuber-Arp’s career as an accomplished painter, as she moved away from figuration to focus on shape and color. Circle, square, and rectangle would define her future vocabulary. While in her earlier textiles she had used multiple shades and hues, she now reduced her palette to primary colors alongside black and white, signaling a markedly changed sense of color. The painting’s title, assigned after Taeuber-Arps death, emphasizes her constant striving for an ideal balance of color, shape, and indeed all the elements in her paintings. From there, she sets out to explore movement, circles, and spaces, and later gradations and lines. Equilibre, a landmark of Taeuber-Arp’s oeuvre, looks ahead to her future subject matter, while at the same time referencing her earlier work; this volume helps us understand Equilibre, and, through it, the entirety of Taeuber-Arp’s career.