Meret Oppenheim

Meret Oppenheim
Courtesy of Lisa Wenger, Carona, Switzerland

Meret Oppenheim (1913-1985) was an artist like no other. She found early fame with the Surrealists, but she would transcend that group to become one of the most important Swiss cultural figures of the 20th century.

Meret Oppenheim travelled to Paris at the age of just 18, and within a few years she became both Surrealist artist and muse. Though she would not remain allied to Surrealism after leaving the city, assemblage forever informed her work. Oppenheim’s oeuvre encompassed drawing, painting, sculpture, writing, furniture, clothing and jewellery; she made no distinction between these genres, and ideas were frequently remade in different forms. She was a passionate participant in the Basel carnival; in her works, costumes or adornment offer disguise and permit playfulness. Her jewellery also suggests that the wearer might take on the properties of what they wear, as if they could gain the characteristics of a reptile by donning a jewel in the form of a snake, for instance. Her objects can equally appear to misuse materials, or to disobey the prescribed rules for female adornment. Meret Oppenheim created such combinations fearlessly, delighting in humorous and edgy subversion that has serious intent nonetheless.


Meret Oppenheim :: Table With Bird’s Feet

Table With Bird’s Feet

Soon after René Drouin and Leo Castelli opened their gallery on the Place Vendôme in Paris in 1939 they invited artists, including Max Ernst…

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Meret Oppenheim :: Table With Bird’s Feet

Table With Bird’s Feet

Soon after René Drouin and Leo Castelli opened their gallery on the Place Vendôme in Paris in 1939 they invited artists, including Max Ernst…

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Meret Oppenheim :: Bone Necklace With Mouth

Bone Necklace With Mouth

Meret Oppenheim designed and commissioned the bone necklace with mouth in 1935–36. The original brass prototype is in a private collection, and the necklace is now realised from cut gold sheet…

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Meret Oppenheim :: Fur Bracelet

Fur Bracelet

In 1936 the young Meret Oppenheim met Pablo Picasso and Dora Maar at the Café de Flore in Paris wearing a fur covered bracelet…

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Meret Oppenheim :: Fur Bracelet

Fur Bracelet

In 1936 the young Meret Oppenheim met Pablo Picasso and Dora Maar at the Café de Flore in Paris wearing a fur covered bracelet…

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Meret Oppenheim :: Fur Ring

Fur Ring

In addition to her fur bracelet of the 1930s, Meret Oppenheim also produced a similar fur ring in 1978…

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Meret Oppenheim :: Wristband Bronze

Wristband Bronze

Meret Oppenheim illustrated her concept for an arm or leg band in two drawings from the 1930s. Beside one picture are the instructions ‘very tight,’ making the dynamics inherent in the piece clear…

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Meret Oppenheim :: Wristband Bronze

Wristband Bronze

Meret Oppenheim illustrated her concept for an arm or leg band in two drawings from the 1930s. Beside one picture are the instructions ‘very tight,’ making the dynamics inherent in the piece clear…

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Meret Oppenheim :: Wristband Gold

Wristband Gold

Meret Oppenheim illustrated her concept for an arm or leg band in two drawings from the 1930s. Beside one picture are the instructions ‘very tight,’ making the dynamics inherent in the piece clear…

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Meret Oppenheim :: Parapapillon Brooch

Parapapillon Brooch

Meret Oppenheim frequently referred to the transformation of insects and animals. Moments like a caterpillar becoming a butterfly have intense energy and potential…

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Meret Oppenheim :: Parapapillon Brooch

Parapapillon Brooch

Meret Oppenheim frequently referred to the transformation of insects and animals. Moments like a caterpillar becoming a butterfly have intense energy and potential…

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Meret Oppenheim :: Parapapillon Earrings

Parapapillon Earrings

Meret Oppenheim frequently referred to the transformation of insects and animals. Moments like a caterpillar becoming a butterfly have intense energy and potential…

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Meret Oppenheim :: Snake Ear Cuff

Snake Ear Cuff

A small snake embraces the wearer’s ear, not as a passive adornment but an active creature that looks back at the viewer with glinting green eyes…

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Meret Oppenheim :: Snake Ear Cuff

Snake Ear Cuff

A small snake embraces the wearer’s ear, not as a passive adornment but an active creature that looks back at the viewer with glinting green eyes…

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Meret Oppenheim :: Leather Ring

Leather Ring

Meret Oppenheim’s concept for a wooden ring explored similar sensory territory to her fur-covered bracelet and ring…

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Meret Oppenheim :: Sugar Ring

Sugar Ring

I love natural materials. But everything man makes is nature, even plastic, even the atomic bomb,’ Meret Oppenheim observed in an interview with Valie Export in 1975…

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Meret Oppenheim :: Sugar Ring

Sugar Ring

I love natural materials. But everything man makes is nature, even plastic, even the atomic bomb,’ Meret Oppenheim observed in an interview with Valie Export in 1975…

more