Details
The image
Rounded forms floating on a pale ground, each one smooth and slightly irregular, arranged so that they seem to hover rather than rest. There is no outline, no shading and no horizon: the shapes are cut out of the paper rather than drawn on it.
Where it comes from
The work reproduced here is Mondsand, made by Hans Arp, one of the artists who argued early in the twentieth century that form could be invented rather than observed. The argument belonged to the years between the wars, when European artists were removing subject matter from the picture at the same time as designers were removing ornament from the page and the vocabulary of rounded, biomorphic shapes that came out of it has never fallen out of use.
On the wall
It suits a study, a hallway or a modern living room, where soft forms on a pale ground give a wall calm rather than detail. Because the palette is light and the composition open, it holds a large wall without filling it. In a group it should be the airiest piece.
In company
The Geometric collection gathers prints made for the same kind of wall.Avoid hanging it beside a second floating composition, the shapes need empty space to appear weightless.
