Though the fame of the sculptor and painter Meret Oppenheim stems mainly from a single work of art, that one was a doozy. Known as Object, the enduringly disconcerting fur-covered teacup, saucer and spoon that Oppenheim created in 1936 remains the one of the most notorious works to spawn from the Surrealist art movement.
Born in Germany and raised in Basel, Switzerland, Oppenheim was encouraged to pursue art by her maternal grandmother, a writer and illustrator. Oppenheim moved to Paris to attend art school in 1932. There, she met the sculptor (and fellow Swiss native) Alberto Giacometti, who introduced her to Man Ray, Max Ernst and André Breton, the founder of the Surrealist movement. Within a year, Oppenheim was exhibiting her paintings with the Surrealists, the first female artist to do so.
Object, the story goes, was born of a lunchtime chat that Oppenheim had with Pablo Picasso and his muse, artist Dora Maar, one afternoon in 1936. The Spanish-born artist admired an unusual fur-lined bracelet that Oppenheim wore, and she replied that anything could be covered fur, “even this cup and saucer!” Her imagination fired, Oppenheim bought some china and a swatch of Chinese gazelle fur. When it was exhibited in New York, Object was purchased by the Museum of Modern Art — the first work of art by a woman acquired by the institution.
Another Oppenheim piece has become an icon of the art-as-design genre, a category that has currency among art collectors: the Traccia table, a side table with a gold- or silver-leafed wooden top, incised with the shapes of two bird-claw impressions, and a cast-bronze base in the form of stork legs. The Traccia — from the Italian for “track,” as in animal track — was created for the 1939 opening of art dealer Leo Castelli’s first gallery, on the Place Vendôme in Paris. The maker Simon International began producing versions of the Traccia in 1970, and the piece is now made by Cassina. Examples are typically priced between $6,300 and $8,500, depending on condition. As striking and amusing today as when it first appeared, the Traccia is an always-suave addition to a modern art and design collection and a tribute to the humor and ingenuity of a groundbreaking 20th-century artist.
Find original Meret Oppenheim art and furniture on 1stDibs.
$600
Man in the Fog / Homme dans le Brouillard, from: L'album des Demeures d'Hypnos
By Meret Oppenheim
Located in London, GB
This original lithograph is hand signed in pencil by the artist 'Meret Oppenheim' at the lower right part. It is numbered in pencil, 55 from the limited edition of 99 impressions at ...
Lithograph
$2,500
H 19 in W 13.75 in
Losias Sepultus in Mausoleo Patrum from Bibla Sacra by Salvador Dali
By Salvador Dalí
Located in Paonia, CO
Losias Sepultus in Mausoleo Patrum ( Josiah buried in the Mausoleum of his Father ) is a colored lithograph from the original gouache on heavy rag paper from Salvador Dali’...
Lithograph
$28,599
H 11.03 in W 14.18 in D 1.19 in
Vitraux pour Jérusalem - Illustrated Book by M. Chagall, 1962
By Marc Chagall
Located in Roma, IT
"Vitraux pour Jerusalem" is one of the most important books illustrated by Marc Chagall and considered as one of his editorial masterpieces. Th...
Paper, Lithograph
$1,838
H 18.9 in W 22.44 in
Les Suprenes de Maillaise Liliputiens, Signed Lithograph, 1971, Edition of 395
By Salvador Dalí
Located in Aventura, FL
Hand signed and numbered by the artist. From Les Diners De Gala. Photo lithograph with a separate original engraving titled Spoon on Crutches. Image size...
Lithograph, Paper
$79,600
H 49.87 in W 38 in D 1 in
Le Reve de Paris Lithograph, Hand Signed, Edition 53/75, Circa 1960
By Marc Chagall
Located in Aventura, FL
Lithograph in colors on Arches paper. Hand signed lower right by Marc Chagall. Hand numbered 53/75 lower left. Paper size: 40.06 x 28.12 inches. Image size: 35.12 x 25.12 inches....
Paper, Lithograph
$6,000
H 23.87 in W 20.75 in D 1 in
Untitled from Je Travaille Comme un Jardinier, 1963, Hand Signed, Edition of 40
By Joan Miró
Located in Aventura, FL
Untitled from Je Travaille Comme un Jardinier. Lithograph on Rives vellum paper. Hand signed lower right by Joan Miro. Hand numbered 35/40 lower left. Sheet size: 16 x 12.75 inch...
Paper, Lithograph
$3,500
H 25.5 in W 18.8 in
DALI Saint Mathew from Twelve Apostles suite signed & numbered Lithograph 1977
By Salvador Dalí
Located in Rancho Santa Fe, CA
Lithograph on Arches paper with embossing and gold foil by the Spanish surrealist artist Salvador Dali. From the 1977 Twelve Apostles Suite (sometimes ...
Gold Leaf
Floating Books
By Fanny Brennan
Located in Greenwich, CT
Floating Books is a lithograph on paper with an image size of 3.5 x 2.5 inches, initialed 'FMB' lower right and annotated lower left, framed in a contemporary silver and dark gray fr...
Paper, Lithograph
$7,950
H 29.75 in W 21.38 in
Obsessions of The Heart from Visions Surrealiste ( TAROT ) original Dali 1976
By Salvador Dalí
Located in Paonia, CO
Obsessions of the Heart ( The World ) is from one of Salvador Dali's TAROT series titled Visions Surrealiste. It is an original limited edition (78 / 100) lithograph on Japon paper, ...
Lithograph
Night Table
By Fanny Brennan
Located in Greenwich, CT
Night Table is a lithograph on paper with an image size of 3 x 3.75 inches, initialed 'FMB' lower right and annotated lower left, framed in a contemporary silver and dark gray frame....
Paper, Lithograph
Surreal French Lithograph of a Dental Tool “Circus”
Located in San Francisco, CA
Raise your hand if you love going to the dentist. Well, imagine being one. The hours on your feet, the aroma of your patients’ ailing teeth, their complaints about their wife/kids/mother-in-law/politics—and their unbearable pain, ad infinitum. Oh, and the sameness of the problems you are asked to solve day in and day out in the endless battle against dental decay. Brain cell death could be an occupational hazard. Unless you have imagination. The artist of this wonderfully surreal original lithograph, David Solot...
Lithograph
$2,000
H 23.13 in W 19.13 in
"Back Cover of Derrière le Miroir #235" Original Lithograph
By Marc Chagall
Located in Milwaukee, WI
"Back Cover of Derrière le Miroir #235, M 946" is an original lithograph by Marc Chagall. This Chagall is a graphic piece, with black lines on a white paper. The main figure is a je...
Lithograph
Suspended Sentence
By Fanny Brennan
Located in Greenwich, CT
Suspended Sentence is a lithograph on paper with an image size of 1.5 x 2 inches, initialed 'FMB' lower right and numbered lower left, framed in a contemporary silver and dark gray f...
Paper, Lithograph
Sold
H 3.94 in W 2.96 in D 0.6 in
The Ear of Giacometti, 1977, Bronze Sculpture, 20th Century Surrealism
By Meret Oppenheim
Located in Hamburg, DE
Meret Oppenheim (Swiss, 1913-1985) The Ear of Giacometti (Das Ohr von Giacometti), 1977 Medium: Bronze Dimensions: 10.5 x 7.5 x 1.5 cm (4,1 x 3 x 0,5 in) Edition of 500: Incised mono...
Bronze
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H 4.93 in W 2.37 in D 0.4 in
Unterirdische Schleife, Surrealist Sculpture, 20th Century Modern Art
By Meret Oppenheim
Located in Hamburg, DE
Meret Oppenheim (Swiss, 1913 - 1985) Unterirdische Schleife, 1977 Medium: Bronze sculpture (In original box with title on label) Edition of 100: Underside initialized and dated ‘M.O....
Bronze
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H 3.94 in W 2.96 in D 0.6 in
The Ear of Giacometti, 1977, Bronze Sculpture, 20th Century Surrealism
By Meret Oppenheim
Located in Hamburg, DE
Meret Oppenheim (Swiss, 1913-1985) The Ear of Giacometti (Das Ohr von Giacometti), 1977 Medium: Bronze Dimensions: 10.5 x 7.5 x 1.5 cm (4,1 x 3 x 0,5 in) Edition of 500: Incised mono...
Bronze
Sold
H 3.94 in W 2.96 in D 0.6 in
The Ear of Giacometti, 1977, Bronze Sculpture, 20th Century Surrealism
By Meret Oppenheim
Located in Hamburg, DE
Meret Oppenheim (Swiss, 1913-1985) The Ear of Giacometti (Das Ohr von Giacometti), 1977 Medium: Bronze Dimensions: 10.5 x 7.5 x 1.5 cm (4,1 x 3 x 0,5 in) Edition of 500: Incised mono...
Bronze