Jean Arp was significant in the creation of Dada and Surrealism: two important art movements. Dada encouraged spontaneity; Surrealism encouraged the exploration of the unconscious mind through dreams. Arp created a series of torso-related sculptures in the 1930s focusing on organic, biomorphic forms and smooth, contoured surfaces. Although decidedly nonrepresentational, Torso of a Knight does seem to suggest the figurative in its upright, elongated form.