Méret Oppenheim facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Méret Oppenheim
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Negative of X-Ray of Meret Oppenheim’s Skull, 1964
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Meret Elisabeth Oppenheim
6 October 1913 |
| Died | 15 November 1985 (aged 72) Basel, Switzerland
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| Education | Académie de la Grande Chaumière, Basel School of Arts and Crafts |
| Known for | Painting, Sculpture, Poetry |
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Notable work
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Object: Breakfast in Fur (1936) My Nurse (1936) Giacometti's Ear (1933) |
| Movement | Surrealism, Conceptualism |
| Awards | Art Award of the City of Basel |
Meret Elisabeth Oppenheim (born October 6, 1913 – died November 15, 1985) was a famous Swiss artist and photographer. She was born in Germany and became well-known for her unique Surrealist artworks.
Contents
Early Life and Art Beginnings
Meret Oppenheim was born in Berlin, Germany. Her name came from a character in a book. She had two younger siblings. When World War I started in 1914, her father joined the army. Meret and her Swiss mother moved to live with her grandparents in Switzerland.
Growing up, Meret saw many different kinds of art. She was inspired by artists like Alfred Kubin and different art styles such as Expressionism and Impressionism. Her aunt, Ruth Wenger, also encouraged her love for art and modern ideas. In the late 1920s, Meret learned about Modernism, Fauvism, and Cubism.
Around 1928, Meret's father introduced her to the ideas of Carl Jung, a famous thinker. Meret became very interested in recording her dreams. She believed dreams could help answer "fundamental life questions." She often used symbols like spirals and snakes in her art, which were inspired by Jung's ideas. Meret believed that art should combine both masculine and feminine qualities.
The work of artist Paul Klee also greatly influenced Meret. His art showed her how many different things could be done with abstract art.
In May 1932, when she was 18, Meret moved to Paris, France. She sometimes attended the Académie de la Grande Chaumière to study painting. She mostly created paintings and drawings during this time. In 1933, she met artists Hans Arp and Alberto Giacometti. They saw her work and invited her to show her art in a Surrealist exhibition in Paris. Soon after, Meret met André Breton, a leader of the Surrealist movement. She joined their meetings at a café and impressed them with her free spirit. Other famous Surrealist artists like Marcel Duchamp, Max Ernst, and Man Ray also joined their group. Their ideas about art became very important to Meret's own work.
Meret Oppenheim's Art Career
In 1936, Meret Oppenheim had her first solo art show in Basel, Switzerland. She continued to show her art in Surrealist exhibitions until 1960. Her paintings often explored themes of life and death. Her strong personality and confidence shone through in all her creations. Her unique and bold style made her a key artist in the Surrealist movement.
After finding success, Meret faced a difficult period in her art career. She worried about how her art would grow. She often worked in short bursts and sometimes even destroyed her own pieces. In 1939, she took a break from showing her art publicly after an exhibition in Paris. She did not share new art with the public again until the 1950s. Later, she returned to her "original style," using old sketches and earlier ideas for new artworks.
Her Most Famous Artwork: Object
Meret Oppenheim's most famous artwork is Object (Le Déjeuner en fourrure) (1936), also known as Object (Breakfast in Fur). This piece is a teacup, saucer, and spoon covered in fur. The fur was thought to be from a Chinese gazelle.
The idea for Object came from a conversation Meret had with artist Pablo Picasso in a café in Paris. Picasso saw a fur bracelet Meret had made and joked that anything could be covered in fur, even a teacup. Meret created Object after André Breton invited her to join a Surrealist exhibition. By covering everyday items with fur, Meret changed their normal use. This made people feel different emotions when they saw the artwork.
Breton gave the artwork its long title, combining ideas from a novel and a famous painting. In 1936, Alfred Barr bought Object for the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York. This made Meret Oppenheim one of the first women artists to have her work in MoMA's collection. She was even called "the First Lady of MoMA." However, the museum's leaders did not fully accept the artwork until 1963.
Challenges After Object
The huge popularity of Object caused a long artistic challenge for Meret. While it brought her fame, it also made people think she only created Surrealist art. This limited her freedom to explore other art styles. Many people wrongly believed she only made objects covered in fur. Meret wanted to avoid being known only for this one piece. Years later, in 1972, she made new artworks that commented on how much Object had dominated her career.
Meret was also known for posing for photographers. Her famous photo shoot with Man Ray showed her personal views on femininity.
In 1937, Meret returned to Basel and trained to restore art. This helped her earn money and marked the start of a creative break that lasted until 1954. During this time, she created very little art and often destroyed what she did make. She joined an art group called Gruppe 33 in Basel and showed her work with them in 1945.
Meret struggled with the challenges women faced in society. Her father, who was Jewish, had to flee to Switzerland before World War II, and he lost his job as a doctor. Because of this, Meret needed to work as an art restorer for financial and emotional support. She saw the art she made during this time as "projections of her fantasy."
From 1967 until her death, Meret lived and worked in Bern, Switzerland.
In the 1950s, Meret became friends with Arnold Rudlinger, the director of the Kunsthall Bern. This art center offered a lively environment where she could explore international art trends and work with other artists.
In 1956, Meret designed costumes and masks for a play by Picasso. Later that year, the play was restaged in Paris. Meret felt that Surrealism had changed after World War II, and she stopped exhibiting with the Surrealists.
In the 1960s, Meret moved away from the Surrealist group. She felt she belonged with the younger artists of the post-war generation. Meret was always "true to herself" and explored new topics in her art with a "fresh pictorial language." She did not have her own students but sometimes mentored younger artists. In 1968, she had a solo exhibition in Bern.
In 1982, Meret won the Berlin Art Prize. She was also asked to create a public fountain for Berlin. Her fountain was built in 1983 and received mixed reviews at first. Some newspapers called it an "eyesore." But over time, as it became covered in moss, people began to accept it. In 1983, Meret also had a traveling exhibition in Italy. In 1984, she had solo exhibitions in Switzerland and Paris. This made Meret one of the few women artists of her time to be recognized internationally during her lifetime.
Meret Oppenheim and Surrealism
After moving to Paris, Meret Oppenheim first met Alberto Giacometti and Hans Arp. They introduced her to Marcel Duchamp and Man Ray. In 1936, she was asked to show her work at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. Her paintings were displayed alongside those of famous artists like Salvador Dalí. After the exhibition of Object, Man Ray called Oppenheim "Surrealism's 'muse.'"
Meret fit in with the Surrealists because she was looking for "acceptance and approval for the way she was living her life." She was open to new ideas, and Surrealism allowed her to experiment freely in her art. This can be seen in her painting Sitting Figure with Shrunken Fingers, which shows her unique artistic attitude.
Meret experimented with many different styles throughout her career, even when she was part of the Surrealist movement. She used "veristic surrealism," which means creating realistic images of dream-like scenes. Her openness kept her work relevant. Unlike other Surrealists who used dreams to understand the subconscious mind, Meret used painting and her dreams as a way to show the forms of the subconscious. She also used symbols that had many meanings, partly influenced by Carl Jung. These symbols created mystery in her art. Meret used symbols that could change their meaning, and her works were connected by clear and organized ideas rather than strict art rules. She often gave her artworks clever titles to help viewers understand her meaning.
Exhibitions and Recognition
Early in her career, in 1936, Meret Oppenheim was part of two important Surrealist exhibitions outside Paris: The International Surrealist Exhibition in London and Fantastic Art Dada Surrealism at MoMA in New York.
In 1943, her work was included in Peggy Guggenheim's show Exhibition by 31 Women in New York.
Meret Oppenheim's first major show looking back at her whole career was held in Stockholm in 1967. In Switzerland, her first retrospective was in Solothurn in 1974 and then traveled to other museums in 1975.
In 1996, the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in the United States held a major show of Meret Oppenheim's work. By this time, many young artists in Europe were becoming interested in her art again. In 2013, a large exhibition of her work opened in Berlin, showing her paintings, sketches, sculptures, and jewelry. Famous people like singer David Bowie lent their artworks for this show. In 2022, MoMA held another exhibition highlighting her long and active career.
Awards and Honors
Meret Oppenheim received the Art Award of the City of Basel on January 16, 1975. In her acceptance speech, she famously said, "Freedom is not given to you — you have to take it." In 1982, three years before she passed away, she received the 1982 Berliner Kunstpreis (Berlin Art Prize).
In 2019, the city of Basel named a plaza, a road, a fountain, and a tall apartment building after Meret Oppenheim in the city center. The large fountain features her sculpture Spirale (der Gang der Natur).
Legacy and Influence
Meret Oppenheim is seen as an important figure for the women's movement and a role model for younger generations. This is because of her strong views on society and her desire for freedom. In 1975, she gave a speech encouraging women to challenge old rules and use their intelligence as a creative power without fear.
Meret Oppenheim passed away in 1985 at the age of 72. She kept careful notes about her art and where her works ended up. She also decided which of her writings should be published. Her art and writings are now kept in institutions in Bern, Switzerland, including the Museum of Fine Arts and the National Library.
The Levy Galerie, founded in 1970, now represents Meret Oppenheim's art collection, working closely with her family.
On October 6, 2017, Google celebrated her 104th birthday with a special Google Doodle on their homepage.
In 2018, a short documentary about Meret Oppenheim called Gloria's Call was made by Cheri Gaulke.
Images for kids
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Meret Oppenheim self-portrait
See also
In Spanish: Meret Oppenheim para niños
