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Meret (or Méret) Elisabeth Oppenheim (6 October 1913 – 15 November 1985) was a German-born Swiss Surrealist artist and photographer. Early life. Meret Oppenheim [1] was born on 6 October 1913 in Berlin. She was named after Meretlein, a wild child who lives in the woods, from the novel Green Henry by Gottfried Keller.
Meret Oppenheim. “There is one thing I do not want you to ask me,” Meret Oppenheim told an interviewer in 1978. It was spring in New York, and the Swiss artist’s latest work was on display at an uptown gallery.
Meret Oppenheim was a German-born Swiss artist whose fur-covered teacup, saucer, and spoon became an emblem of the Surrealist movement. The piece, created when Oppenheim was just 23 years old, became so famous that it overshadowed the rest of her career.
Meret Oppenheim. Object, 1936. Fur-covered cup, saucer, and spoon, cup 4-3/8 inches in diameter; saucer 9-3/8 inches in diameter; spoon 8 inches long, overall height 2-7/8" (The Museum of Modern Art)
Oppenheim was the only Surrealist who had any authority on psychoanalysis. Born into a family of Swiss analysts, Oppenheim was steeped in psychoanalytic theory and followed the teachings of Carl Gustav Jung. Throughout her life, she kept a dream diary that served as a wellspring for her creativity.
Oppenheim’s fur-lined teacup is perhaps the single most notorious Surrealist object. Its subtle perversity was inspired by a conversation between Oppenheim, Pablo Picasso, and the photographer Dora Maar at a Paris café. Admiring Oppenheim’s fur-trimmed bracelets, Picasso remarked that one could cover just about anything with fur.
Oct 26, 2022 · Meret Oppenheim. Object. 1936. Art history’s myopic focus on that singular object, along with other misrepresentations of her practice, were perspectives that Oppenheim, over the years, sought to contest, control, and correct.
