Sophie Täuber studied applied art in Munich and Hamburg. In 1915 she met Jean Arp and they married in 1922. Both were involved in the Zürich Dada movement and the Surrealist movement as well. She designed puppets and sets for Cabaret Voltaire performances, where she also participated as a puppeteer and as a dancer.
From the late 1920s, she lived in Paris and continued experimenting with design. Her skills developed into large scale interior design when she created a radical interior for a teashop/cafe.
Taeuber-Arp, Sonia Delaunay, and others created an art colony at Grasse in Southern France, after fleeing Paris in advance of the German invasion. The colony was active from 1941 to 1943, when Taeuber-Arp died, during a visit to Switzerland, in an accident with a stove.
She has been depicted on the 50 Swiss francs banknotes issued since 1995.
References
West, Shearer (1996). The Bullfinch Guide to Art. UK: Bloomsbury Publishing Plc. ISBN 0-8212-2137-X.
