Conservator, Annie Wilker: The tools Taeuber-Arp used to lay out these compositions came from her architecture and design practice and included a compass, ruling pen, and straight-edge. We can see the compass holes in the centers of her circles.
As a paper conservator, close looking is a huge part of my job. I really enjoy seeing places where Taeuber-Arp corrects her own mistakes. She follows her pre-drawn and outlines, but once in a while, her brush will slip over the line, just a teeny tiny bit. And she nearly always goes back in to make sure that her edges are absolutely perfect. So in terms of attention to detail, I feel a real sense of kinship with Taeuber-Arp. I think she would have made a great conservator, but I'm certainly happy that she was an artist instead.
Taeuber-Arp had stopped actively making textiles by the time she made these works on paper and canvas. And she also started to deviate from the strict regularity of an underlying grid. She placed certain forms somewhat askew, which disrupted the balance of the composition a bit and added a sense of motion.
Writer and Journalist, Amah-Rose Abrams: These paintings almost look like they could burst into movement, like they could be kinetic, like an animation. And it's almost as though she's created these rules, this framework to work from, in which she can do whatever she wants. And in doing that, it's opened up a world of options for her as an artist. You get the impression that she is having fun. You never know what to expect next. But it's always her.