Sophie Taeuber-Arp died on January 13, 1943, in Zurich from carbon monoxide poisoning caused by a faulty stove while a wartime refugee.
Sophie Taeuber-Arp died unexpectedly on January 13, 1943, in Zurich, Switzerland, at the home of art collector and friend Max Bill, where she and Jean Arp were staying overnight as refugees from Nazi-occupied France. She was accidentally asphyxiated by carbon monoxide fumes from a faulty stove in the room where she slept. She was only 53 years old.
Her death occurred during a period of extreme personal and political upheaval: the couple, based in Meudon near Paris, had fled south to Grasse and then attempted to find safety in neutral Switzerland as the Second World War intensified persecution of artists associated with 'degenerate' modernist movements. The tragic and abrupt nature of her death—amid displacement and wartime precarity—cut short a career that was, at the time, reaching new heights of abstraction and international recognition.
Her death was a profound blow to Jean Arp and to the European avant-garde community; Arp fell into a deep depression and later established the Fondation Arp and various memorial efforts to preserve and champion her work, ensuring her legacy survived despite her relatively short career and the historical tendency to overshadow her contributions with those of her husband. Switzerland later honored her by featuring her portrait and artwork on the 50-franc banknote, a rare tribute reflecting her belated but enduring recognition.