Meret Oppenheim

Meret Oppenheim. A pivotal figure in the Surrealist movement, she is best known for her iconic fur-covered sculpture, Object (Le Déjeuner en fourrure). Her multifaceted career spanned sculpture, painting, poetry, and design, challenging conventional boundaries of art and femininity. Oppenheim's work continues to be celebrated for its provocative wit and its exploration of the unconscious, dreams, and transformation.

Biography

Born in Berlin to a German father and Swiss mother, her family moved to Switzerland at the outbreak of World War I. She was raised in a progressive, intellectually stimulating environment, with her maternal grandmother, a writer and activist, being an early influence. In 1932, she moved to Paris to study at the Académie de la Grande Chaumière, quickly immersing herself in the city's vibrant avant-garde circles. She formed significant friendships with key figures like Alberto Giacometti, Jean Arp, and Man Ray, who photographed her in a now-famous series. After periods of creative struggle, she experienced a major resurgence in the late 1950s, continuing to work prolifically until her death in Basel.

Artistic career

Oppenheim's artistic career was defined by her deep involvement with the Paris-based Surrealists, participating in their seminal exhibitions, including the 1936 Exposition Surréaliste d'Objets at the Galerie Charles Ratton. Her early work often involved transforming everyday objects into unsettling, poetic entities, a hallmark of the Surrealist object. After the critical success of her fur-lined cup, she faced immense pressure and a period of artistic crisis, during which she destroyed much of her work. Her later career saw a broadening of her practice into public commissions, like the fountain Oppenheim Fountain in Bern, and a return to painting and jewelry design, often exploring mythological and natural themes with renewed vigor.

Major works

Her most famous work, Object (Le Déjeuner en fourrure) (1936), a cup, saucer, and spoon lined with gazelle fur, became an instant symbol of Surrealism and is housed in the Museum of Modern Art in New York City. Other significant objects include Ma Gouvernante (1936), a pair of high-heeled shoes trussed like a roast bird on a platter, and Fur Gloves with Wooden Fingers (1936). Later monumental sculptures include Spiral (Cassiopeia) (1971) and the controversial ''Gerichtstrasse Fountain'' in Bern. Her diverse oeuvre also encompasses paintings like the enigmatic Green Spectator (1959) and designs for Schiaparelli, such as a bracelet with fur-covered metal tubes.

Legacy and influence

Oppenheim left a profound legacy as a pioneering woman within the male-dominated Surrealist movement, her work prefiguring later artistic developments like Feminist art, Pop art, and Installation art. She is celebrated for her fearless confrontation of themes related to gender, sexuality, and identity, imbuing domestic objects with subversive psychological power. Her influence is evident in the work of later artists such as Louise Bourgeois, Mona Hatoum, and Sarah Lucas. In 1975, she was awarded the Art Prize of the City of Basel and her life and work continue to be the subject of major retrospectives at institutions like the Museum of Modern Art and the Kunstmuseum Bern.

Exhibitions and collections

Her work was featured in landmark group shows during the 1930s, including exhibitions at the Galerie Charles Ratton and the Musée National d'Art Moderne. Major posthumous retrospectives have been held at the Moderna Museet in Stockholm (1967), the Kunsthalle Basel (1984), and the Museum of Modern Art in New York City (1996). Her pieces are held in the permanent collections of premier museums worldwide, including the Museum of Modern Art, the Tate Modern, the Centre Pompidou in Paris, the Kunstmuseum Bern, and the Kunsthaus Zürich. The Meret Oppenheim Prize, a prestigious Swiss national art award, was established in her honor in 1998.

Category:Swiss sculptors Category:Surrealist artists Category:20th-century Swiss women artists