Hans Peter Wilhelm Arp (1886–1966), known as Jean Arp, was a leading figure of Dadaism and Surrealism. His sculptures embody a poetic fusion of chance, organic form, and abstraction.

La Feuille (“The Leaf”) was carved in 1941, a period marked by war and upheaval. This marble sculpture captures Arp’s signature biomorphic style, fluid, balanced, and evocative of natural shapes. The leaf is a recurring motif in Arp’s work which becomes a vessel for metamorphosis, gently bridging the vegetal and the human, the symbolic and the sensual. In this sculpture, smooth undulations suggest both growth and surrender, a shape caught mid-transformation. It speaks in silence, like a fossilized breath of the natural world.

Presented within Mother Nature in the Bardo, La Feuille aligns with other works that evoke the liminal and the elemental, Monet’s atmospheric Giverny, Calder’s floral gouaches, or Hamilton’s ritual masks. Arp’s biomorphic form offers a moment of stillness and timelessness, reminding us that even in moments of upheaval, nature’s quiet intelligence endures in form, rhythm, and memory.

Provenance traces to private Swiss collections and notable auctions, reflecting its enduring significance. Arp’s work is held in major institutions including MoMA, Tate Modern, and Centre Pompidou.

Provenance 
Collection A. and O. Müller-Widmann, Basel (acquired from the artist before 1955)
Anja Petzold-Müller, Basel (by descent from the above)
Christie's Paris, Sale 20081 (Art Moderne), 22nd October 2021, lot 330
Private Collection, Europe

Literature/Press
C. Giedion-Welcker, Jean Arp , Stuttgart, 1957, no. 63, p. 110, another edition
illustrated p. 68
I. Jianou, Jean Arp , Paris, 1973, no. 63, p. 69
A. Hartog and K. Fischer, Hans Arp, Sculptures, ACritical Survey, Ostfildern, 2012, no. 63,
illustrated p. 263