Arp was born in Strasbourg on 16 September. In 1900 he enrolled at the school for artistic craftsmanship in Strasbourg; in 1904 he traveled to Paris for the first time. The same year, he began his studies at the art academy of Weimar. In 1907 Henry van de Velde arranged for the young artist to show his works at Bernheim-Jeune in Paris, next to Matisse, Signac and Van Dongen. In 1908, Arp began to study at the Académie Julian in Paris, which he did not consider satisfactory, though. In 1912, he joined in the work of the almanach "Der Blaue Reiter" and took part in the exhibition "Der Moderne Bund" in Zurich. In 1913, Arp stayed with Herwarth Walden in Berlin and took over the management of the Sturm art gallery for a short time, where he participated in its exhibition "Erster Deutscher Herbstsalon". In 1914 he met Max Ernst.

Shortly before the outbreak of World War I, Arp took one of the last trains to Paris. In 1915 he was expelled from France and found refuge in Switzerland. In Zurich he met Sophie Taeuber, whom he married in 1922. In 1916, he co-founded the Cabaret Voltaire in Zurich, the "cradle" of the Swiss Dada movement, other members of which were Hugo Ball and Tristan Tzara, among others. In 1917, his first abstract wooden reliefs were created. Thanks to his acquaintance with Francis Picabia in 1918, the Swiss came in contact with the international Dada movement. After the war, Arp went on a number of travels and kept up his relations to Kurt Schwitters, El Lissitzky, Raoul Hausmann, Hannah Höch, and many others. In 1920 the exhibition "Dada-Vorfrühling" in Cologne was closed by the police. In the same year, Arp returned to Paris, where he took an active part in the Dada movement. In 1925, he participated in the first exhibition of the Surrealists with whom Arp later worked and repeatedly featured in exhibitions. In 1930 Arp made his first round sculptures. He fled from the German troops in Paris, first to the countryside, then to Switzerland, to Max Bill.Sophie-Taeuber-Arp died in Zurich in 1943. After the end of the war, Arp returned to Paris. In the forties and fifties, he made several trips to the USA, where he featured in a number of exhibitions. In 1959 he married Marguerite Hagenbach, his second wife. On 7 June 1966, Hans Arp died in Basle.