Briony Fer on Sophie Taeuber-Arp

Briony Fer on Sophie Taeuber-Arp

From The Great Women Artists by Katy Hessel

April 29, 2026 · 45 min

About this episode

Briony Fer discusses the life and work of avant-garde artist Sophie Taeuber-Arp.

TODAY on the GWA Podcast: esteemed art historian Briony Fer on the avant-garde icon, Sophie Taeuber-Arp. The Professor of History of Art at University College London and a Fellow of the British Academy, Briony Fer is one of the leading art historians in the world. Writing and publishing extensively on modern and contemporary art, specialising in the history of abstraction in the 20th century, Fer has curated monumental exhibitions on artists such as Anni Albers at the Tate Modern, Louise Bourgeois at the National Museum, Oslo, Eva Hesse at the Fruitmarket, Mel Bochner at Whitechapel, and more But the reason we are speaking with Fer today is because she has also just curated an exhibition “Sophie Taeuber-Arp: The Rule of Curves” at Hauser & Wirth Paris, and published a stunning book on the great artist, dancer, performer, puppet maker, bag weaver, teacher, stained-glass maker, sculptor, architect, and so much more, Sophie Taeuber-Arp… Born in Switzerland in 1889, Taeuber-Arp is famously associated with the Dada movement, a group of artists who formed post-devastation of World War I to make sense of a nonsensical world. Performing dance routines set to Hugo Ball poetry and turning…

People in this episode

Host: Katy Hessel

Guest: Briony Fer

Topics covered

  • art history
  • modernism
  • Dada movement
  • Sophie Taeuber-Arp
  • abstraction
  • exhibitions

Keywords

  • Briony Fer
  • Sophie Taeuber-Arp
  • art historian
  • Dada
  • modernism
  • exhibition
  • abstraction

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: University College London, British Academy, Tate Modern, National Museum, Oslo, Fruitmarket, Whitechapel, Hauser & Wirth Paris

Places: Switzerland

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