Méret Oppenheim

Meret Oppenheim engaged in numerous artistic pursuits, including painting, drawing, sculpture, design, fashion, poetry, stage set design, jewelry making, and photography. 

Biography of Meret Oppenheim

Meret Oppenheim was born in 1913 in Berlin, Germany. Her father, a German-Jewish doctor, was drafted into the army when the war broke out in 1914. As a result, Oppenheim and her mother, who was Swiss, relocated to Delémont, Switzerland, to live with Oppenheim's maternal grandparents.

There, in Switzerland, she was introduced to a wide array of art and artists from an early age, including German Expressionists and French Impressionists. 

In the late 1920s, Oppenheim had the opportunity to explore various artworks associated with Modernism, Expressionism, Fauvism, and Cubism.

Meret Oppenheim's arrival in Paris in 1932 marked the commencement of her rise in the art world. She occasionally attended the Académie de la Grande Chaumière to pursue painting studies. Her initial studio was located in a hotel room at the Montparnasse Hotel in Paris. There, she seamlessly integrated herself into the vibrant Parisian art scene, taking part in exhibitions alongside luminaries such as  Alberto Giacometti, Pablo Picasso, Jean Arp, André Breton, and Max Ernst.

In 1936, Meret Oppenheim held her debut solo exhibition at Galerie Schulthess in Basel, Switzerland. Upon her return to Basel in 1937, she experienced the onset of an artistic block. The newfound success she had achieved led to her grappling with concerns about her artistic development.

Following an exhibition at Galerie René Drouin in Paris in 1939, initiated by René Drouin, she took a hiatus from her artistic career. It wasn't until the 1950s that she once again shared her art with the public.

In 1944, during an extended, eighteen-year-long period of depression, Oppenheim began working as an art conservator. In 1956, she ventured into costume and mask design, creating them for Daniel Spoerri's production of Picasso's play "Le Désir attrapé par la queue" in Berne.

By the 1960s, Oppenheim distanced herself from the Surrealists and felt a stronger connection to the post-war generation, which was notably younger. Her artistic achievements were recognized in 1982 when she won the Berlin Art Prize and was featured in Rudi Fuchs' exhibition at documenta 7.

Meret Oppenheim's Art Style

Meret Oppenheim, while currently regarded as a prominent figure in (French) Surrealism, defies easy stylistic classification and cannot be confined to predictable artistic trajectories. She firmly resisted prevailing norms, genre boundaries, and fixed notions of creative expression.

At the core of her practice was a relentless spirit of experimentation, driven by curiosity, a fascination with the unknown, and a thirst for the new. Creating a series of works, relying on recurring themes, or limiting herself to repetitive patterns would have been inconceivable to her.

In her early artistic endeavors, Oppenheim primarily focused on scrawl-like drawings, enigmatic paintings, mysterious objects, collages, and designs for jewelry and various fashion accessories. One of her most renowned and quintessentially Surrealist pieces, "Le Déjeuner en fourrure," was crafted in 1936. It consisted of a cup, a saucer, and a small spoon, all enveloped in fur.

Despite her departure from the Parisian Surrealists, many ideas central to the early twentieth century continued to permeate her work. By transcending artistic genres and blending various materials, including drawings, paintings, sketches, designs, fashion, jewelry, furniture, and textiles, her creations exude a sense of fantasy and whimsy. They embody both poetry and irony, infused with humor and earnestness, and are always playful. Her works are characterized by a fusion of colors, shapes, diverse materials, sensations, and a touch of alienation.

Her works oscillate between moments of geometric clarity and episodes of lyrical abstraction, showcasing her versatility and multifaceted artistic approach.