Oppenheim was a member of the Surrealist movement along with André Breton, Luis Buñuel, Max Ernst, and other writers and visual artists. Her abundant strength of character and her self-assurance informed each work she created, conveying a certain comfortable confrontation with life and death. In the exhibition she was featured alongside many artists, including Leonor Fini and Max Ernst. Its subtle perversity was inspired by a conversation between Oppenheim, Pablo Picasso, and the photographer Dora Maar at a … From Frank Stella to Louise Bourgeois, 9 Artists Who Designed Stunning Jewelry, MoMA’s First Work by a Female Artist Was a Fur-Lined Teacup, How the Women of Surrealism Went from Muses to Masters. She famously posed for Man Ray’s Erotique voilée (1933), instantly becoming an object of romantic idealization to the Surrealists for her seemingly direct and spontaneous access to experiences of the dream world through her youth, charm, and openness. The full text of the article is here →, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Méret_Oppenheim. A central figure in Surrealism, Meret Oppenheim painted dream narratives and impossible juxtapositions of everyday objects to explore female sexuality, identity, and exploitation. Object (1936) This fur-covered teacup, saucer, and spoon, covered in Chinese gazelle pelt, is an unsettling hybrid: civilization meets wild animal. The conceptual approach favored by Marcel Duchamp, Max Ernst, and Francis Picabia became important to her work. Oppenheim was also inspired by her aunt, Ruth Wenger, especially by Wenger's devotion to art and her modern lifestyle. It featured a live woman (later replaced by a mannequin) garnished with fish, fruit and nuts. In 1933, Oppenheim met Hans Arp and Alberto Giacometti. Oppenheim had two siblings, a sister named Kristin (born 1915) and a brother named Burkhard (born 1919). From this point, until the end of World War II, the artists, writers, and intellectuals who joined Breton sought to creatively undermine what they viewed as postwar … Fur Gloves with Wooden Fingers Meret Oppenheim • 1936. Object (Le Déjeuner en fourrure) Meret Oppenheim • 1936. After visiting her studio and seeing her work, Arp and Giacometti invited her to participate in the Surrealist exhibition in the “Salon des Surindépendants,” held in Paris between 27 October and 26 November. She continued to contribute to Surrealist exhibitions until 1960. Important Art by Meret Oppenheim Artwork Images. Méret Oppenheim usually worked in spontaneous bursts and at times destroyed her work. Oppenheim’s fur-lined teacup is perhaps the single most notorious Surrealist object. In her best-known works, Oppenheim painted household objects in suggestively erotic arrangements or created haunting assemblages of indeterminate origins, often transforming objects closely associated with feminine domesticity into erotic symbols. By 1928, Oppenheim was introduced to the writings of Carl Jung through her father and was inspired to record her dreams. In 1924, with the West on the mend after World War I, French poet André Breton unleashed a manifesto of a brand-new revolution: the artistic, intellectual, and literary movement known as Surrealism. Oppenheim’s paintings focused on the same themes. The work of Paul Klee, the focus of a retrospective at the Kunshalle Basel in 1929, provided another strong influence on Oppenheim, arousing her to the possibilities of abstraction. Refusing the reproduction of his famous fur mug, Meret Oppenheim made an absurd replica in 1970 with his painting "Andenken an das Pelzfrühstück" ("Souvenir of the fur lunch"). Her work focused on the subjugation of women, explored throughout her paintings, as well as her sculptures, using everyday objects posed as women. Oppenheim later met André Breton and began to participate in meetings at the Café de la Place Blanche with the Surrealist circle. This is a part of the Wikipedia article used under the Creative Commons Attribution-Sharealike 3.0 Unported License (CC-BY-SA). She did not share any art with the public again until the 1950s. Many of her pieces consisted of everyday objects arranged to allude to female sexuality and feminine exploitation by the opposite sex. Limited-Edition Prints by Leading Artists, Une parente eloignée (A distant relative), 1966, Traccia table from the Ultramobile collection, 1936. Object (1936), a fur-covered cup, saucer, and spoon, became her most iconic work. Sitting Figure with Folded Hands Meret Oppenheim • 1933. By 1928, Oppenheim was introduced to the writings of Carl Jung through her father and was inspired to record her dreams. Her father, a German-Jewish doctor, was conscripted into the army at the outbreak of war in 1914. On opening day of the 1959 Exposition Internationale du Surréalisme (EROS) in Paris, Oppenheim exhibited a compelling and horrifying tableau. During the late 1920s, Oppenheim was further exposed to different artworks connected to Modernism, Expressionism, Fauvism, and Cubism. Méret Oppenheim's first one-woman exhibition in the Galerie Schulthess, Basel (1936) featured surrealist objects. Besides creating art objects, Oppenheim also famously appeared as a model for photographs by Man Ray, most notably a series of nude shots of her interacting with a printing press. Consequently, Oppenheim and her mother, who was Swiss, moved to live with Oppenheim's maternal grandparents in Delémont, Switzerland. symbolic painting (1) ... Giacometti's Ear Meret Oppenheim • 1933. Represented by industry leading galleries. Méret Elisabeth Oppenheim (6 October 1913 – 15 November 1985) was a German-born Swiss Surrealist artist and photographer. In 1936, Oppenheim had her first solo exhibition in Basel, Switzerland, at the Galerie Schulthess. Oppenheim then reverted to her "original style" and based her new artworks on old sketches and earlier works and creations. Object (1936), a fur-covered cup, saucer, and spoon, became her most iconic work. Her originality and audacity established her as a leading figure in the Surrealist movement. A way to get rid of those who reduced his art to the iconic work. Her dreams would serve as important sources for much of her art throughout her life. Oppenheim set the table with … Oppenheim's paintings focused on the same themes. Méret Oppenheim was born on 6 October 1913 in Berlin. Meret Oppenheim Object Paris, 1936. She continued to contribute to Surrealist exhibitions until 1960. During the late 1920s, Oppenheim was further exposed to different artworks connected to Modernism, Expressionism, Fauvism, and Cubism. Red head, blue body Meret Oppenheim • 1936. Her most famous work—the result of a joking conversation with Pablo Picasso—is Object (Le Déjeuner en Fourrure)(1936), a teacup, saucer, and spoon covered in Chinese gazelle fur, creating an arresting meld of the domestic with the erotic. MoMA, Floor 5, 517 The Alfred H. Barr, Jr. Galleries. Shortly after she began to attend meetings regularly with Breton and other acquaintances, Oppenheim’s circle was joined by other Surrealist artists such as Marcel Duchamp, Max Ernst, and Man Ray. Her … Her dreams would serve as important sources for much of her art throughout her life. In May 1932, at the age of 18, Oppenheim moved to Paris and sporadically attended the Académie de la Grande Chaumière. Through exhibitions and activities amongst the Surrealist circle, Oppenheim was closely associated with Jean Arp, André Breton, and Max Ernst. My Nurse Maid Meret Oppenheim • 1936. In 1937, Oppenheim returned to Basel and this marked the start of her artistic block. In her best-known works, Oppenheim painted household objects in suggestively erotic arrangements or created haunting assemblages of indeterminate origins, often transforming objects closely associated with feminine domesticity into erotic symbols. Her abundant strength of character and her self-assurance informed each work she created, conveying a certain comfortable confrontation with life and death. In Switzerland, Oppenheim was exposed to a plethora of art and artists from a young age. Oppenheim took a hiatus from her artistic career in 1939 after an exhibition at the Galerie René Drouin started by Rene Drouin in Paris. Many of her pieces consisted of everyday objects arranged to allude to female sexuality and feminine exploitation by the opposite sex. On view. Oppenheim is named after Meretlein, a wild child who lives in the woods, from the novel Green Henry by Gottfried Keller. A Woman’s Work: Surrealist Artist Meret Oppenheim. In 1936, Meret Oppenheim had her first solo exhibition in Basel, Switzerland, at the Galerie Schulthess. She struggled after she met success and worried about her development as an artist.