The first U.S. survey in 25 years for the Surrealist artist Meret Oppenheim is coming to New York’s Museum of Modern Art this fall.
“Meret Oppenheim: My Exhibition” will feature more than 180 works by the Swiss-German artist, including paintings, drawings, collages, and sculptures. The show will go on view at the Kunstmuseum Bern before traveling to MoMA on October 22, followed by the Menil Collection in Houston later in the year.
Though best known for her 1936 work , the artist’s oeuvre extends well beyond furry flatware. In painting, drawing, and mixed media collage, Oppenheim tapped into her interest in psychoanalysis and a knack for subverting convention to humorous and disturbing ends.
<img class="size-large wp-image-1998534" src="https://news.artnet.com/app/news-upload/2021/08/cri_000000266847-1024×939.jpg" alt="Meret Oppenheim,
Glove (for Parkett no. 4) (1985). Courtesy of the Museum of Modern Art. ” width=”1024″ height=”939″ srcset=”https://news.artnet.com/app/news-upload/2021/08/cri_000000266847-1024×939.jpg 1024w, https://news.artnet.com/app/news-upload/2021/08/cri_000000266847-300×275.jpg 300w, https://news.artnet.com/app/news-upload/2021/08/cri_000000266847-50×46.jpg 50w, https://news.artnet.com/app/news-upload/2021/08/cri_000000266847.jpg 1570w” sizes=”(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px”>
Meret Oppenheim, Glove (for Parkett no. 4) (1985). Courtesy of the Museum of Modern Art.
Oppenheim’s fascination with the body is also apparent in works like a sterling silver platter with a pair of white women’s pumps bound together at the heels, which end in paper frills, like a bondage-inspired Norman Rockwell turkey dish. Oppenheim was also fascinated by hands and gloves, and many of her used the garment in some way, with hand-painted and embroidered veins splayed on top of a pair of white leather gloves or a pair of hands ensconced in hirsute coverings from which red-painted nails poke out, like the extremities of a female werewolf in , 1936.
The artist was also a muse and model for her peers, most notably in a photographic series by Man Ray that placed a nude Oppenheim next to a printing press with one arm and hand covered in sticky dark paint. The lithe nude woman juxtaposed next to the large wheel with its iron spokes and phallic wooden handle creates a tableaux ripe for analysis.
Below, see some of Oppenheim’s most famous works.
<img class="size-large wp-image-1998480" src="https://news.artnet.com/app/news-upload/2021/08/PL_116_1969_Octavia_resize-439×1024.jpg" alt="Meret Oppenheim,
Octavia (Oktavia) (1969). Courtesy of the Museum of Modern Art.” width=”439″ height=”1024″ srcset=”https://news.artnet.com/app/news-upload/2021/08/PL_116_1969_Octavia_resize-439×1024.jpg 439w, https://news.artnet.com/app/news-upload/2021/08/PL_116_1969_Octavia_resize-129×300.jpg 129w, https://news.artnet.com/app/news-upload/2021/08/PL_116_1969_Octavia_resize-21×50.jpg 21w, https://news.artnet.com/app/news-upload/2021/08/PL_116_1969_Octavia_resize-824×1920.jpg 824w, https://news.artnet.com/app/news-upload/2021/08/PL_116_1969_Octavia_resize.jpg 858w” sizes=”(max-width: 439px) 100vw, 439px”>
Meret Oppenheim, Octavia (Oktavia) (1969). Courtesy of the Museum of Modern Art.
<img class="size-large wp-image-1998481" src="https://news.artnet.com/app/news-upload/2021/08/PL_50_1938_Stone-Woman_resize-845×1024.jpg" alt="Meret Oppenheim,
Stone Woman (Steinfrau) (1938). Courtesy of the Museum of Modern Art. ” width=”845″ height=”1024″ srcset=”https://news.artnet.com/app/news-upload/2021/08/PL_50_1938_Stone-Woman_resize-845×1024.jpg 845w, https://news.artnet.com/app/news-upload/2021/08/PL_50_1938_Stone-Woman_resize-248×300.jpg 248w, https://news.artnet.com/app/news-upload/2021/08/PL_50_1938_Stone-Woman_resize-41×50.jpg 41w, https://news.artnet.com/app/news-upload/2021/08/PL_50_1938_Stone-Woman_resize-1585×1920.jpg 1585w” sizes=”(max-width: 845px) 100vw, 845px”>
Meret Oppenheim, Stone Woman (Steinfrau) (1938). Courtesy of the Museum of Modern Art.
<img class="size-large wp-image-1998482" src="https://news.artnet.com/app/news-upload/2021/08/New_Stars-2000×1647-1024×843.jpg" alt="Meret Oppenheim,
New Stars (Neue Sterne) (1977–82). Kunstmuseum Bern. Meret Oppenheim Bequest.” width=”1024″ height=”843″ srcset=”https://news.artnet.com/app/news-upload/2021/08/New_Stars-2000×1647-1024×843.jpg 1024w, https://news.artnet.com/app/news-upload/2021/08/New_Stars-2000×1647-300×247.jpg 300w, https://news.artnet.com/app/news-upload/2021/08/New_Stars-2000×1647-50×41.jpg 50w” sizes=”(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px”>
Meret Oppenheim, New Stars (Neue Sterne) (1977–82). Kunstmuseum Bern. Meret Oppenheim Bequest. Courtesy of the Museum of Modern Art.
<img class="size-large wp-image-1998483" src="https://news.artnet.com/app/news-upload/2021/08/PL_101_1964_X-Ray-of-M.O.ΓCys-Skull_resize-820×1024.jpg" alt="Meret Oppenheim,
X-Ray of M.O.’s Skull (Röntgenaufnahme des Schädels M.O.). (1964/1981). Hermann and Margrit Rupf Foundation. Kunstmuseum Bern.” width=”820″ height=”1024″ srcset=”https://news.artnet.com/app/news-upload/2021/08/PL_101_1964_X-Ray-of-M.O.ΓCys-Skull_resize-820×1024.jpg 820w, https://news.artnet.com/app/news-upload/2021/08/PL_101_1964_X-Ray-of-M.O.ΓCys-Skull_resize-240×300.jpg 240w, https://news.artnet.com/app/news-upload/2021/08/PL_101_1964_X-Ray-of-M.O.ΓCys-Skull_resize-40×50.jpg 40w, https://news.artnet.com/app/news-upload/2021/08/PL_101_1964_X-Ray-of-M.O.ΓCys-Skull_resize-1538×1920.jpg 1538w, https://news.artnet.com/app/news-upload/2021/08/PL_101_1964_X-Ray-of-M.O.ΓCys-Skull_resize.jpg 1583w” sizes=”(max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px”>
Meret Oppenheim, X-Ray of M.O.’s Skull (Röntgenaufnahme des Schädels M.O.). (1964/1981). Hermann and Margrit Rupf Foundation. Kunstmuseum Bern. Courtesy of the Museum of Modern Art.
Source: Exhibition - news.artnet.com
