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
$1,009
H 23.63 in W 17.72 in
La Valse Hésitation - 20th Century, Surrealist, Lithograph, Figurative Print
By (after) René Magritte
Located in Sint-Truiden, BE
Numbered: 138/275 Color lithograph after the 1950 oil on canvas by René Magritte, printed signature of Magritte and numbered from the edition of 275. The lithograph features the dry...
Lithograph
$1,008
H 23.63 in W 17.72 in
La Page Blanche - 20th Century, Surrealist, Lithograph, Figurative Print
By (after) René Magritte
Located in Sint-Truiden, BE
Numbered: 138/275 Color lithograph after the 1967 oil on canvas by René Magritte, printed signature of Magritte and numbered from the edition of 275. The lithograph features the dry...
Lithograph
$1,181
H 23.63 in W 17.72 in D 0.08 in
RENÉ MAGRITTE Le Maître d'École - 1955 Limited edition Lithograph - Surrealism
By (after) René Magritte
Located in Madrid, Madrid
LE MAÎTRE D'ÉCOLE, 1955 (THE SCHOOLMASTER) Date of creation: 2010 Medium: Lithograph on BFK Rives Paper Edition: 275 Size: 60 x 45 cm Observations: Lithograph on BFK Rives paper plat...
Lithograph
$534
H 17.72 in W 11.82 in
Le Plagiat - 20th Century, Surrealist, Lithograph, Figurative Print
By (after) René Magritte
Located in Sint-Truiden, BE
Color lithograph after the 1940 oil on canvas by René Magritte, printed signature of Magritte and numbered from the edition of 300. The lithograph features the dry stamps of the Magritte Foundation & ADAGP and is countersigned in pencil by Mr. Charly Herscovici, President of the Magritte Foundation, Chairman of the Magritte Museum and unique representative of the Magritte Succession. A proof of edition is printed on the back of the lithograph, guaranteeing its authenticity. Magritte was a Belgian surrealist artist whose witty and thought-provoking images challenged observers? preconditioned perceptions of reality. Magritte's work frequently displays a juxtaposition of ordinary objects in an unusual context, giving new meanings to familiar things.Magritte grew up in a simple and somewhat tragic household. His father was a modest tailor. His mother, who was mentally unsound, committed suicide in the year 1912. Magritte started drawing at a young age, and his first paintings, produced c. 1915, were Impressionistic in style.Magritte first worked as a draughtsman in a wallpaper factory and, in the year 1922, fell in love with and married Georgette Berger. In 1926, Magritte signed...
Lithograph
$534
H 17.72 in W 11.82 in
La Grande Guerre - 20th Century, Surrealist, Lithograph, Figurative Print
By René Magritte
Located in Sint-Truiden, BE
Color lithograph after the 1954 oil on canvas by René Magritte, plate-signed by Magritte and numbered from the edition of 300. The lithograph features the dry stamps of the Magritte...
Lithograph
$1,600
H 19.3 in W 27.56 in
The Bystanders - Hand-signed numbered lithograph Leonor Fini Surrealist, 1975
By Leonor Fini
Located in New York, NY
Leonor Fini The Bystanders, 1973 Lithograph 19 3/10 × 27 3/5 in 49 × 70 cm Edition of 75
Lithograph
$1,009
H 23.63 in W 17.72 in
Souvenir de Voyage - 20th Century, Surrealist, Lithograph, Figurative Print
By (after) René Magritte
Located in Sint-Truiden, BE
Color lithograph after the 1952 oil on canvas by René Magritte, printed signature of Magritte and numbered from the edition of 275. The lithograph features the dry stamps of the Mag...
Lithograph
$1,180
H 23.63 in W 17.72 in D 0.08 in
RENÉ MAGRITTE L'EMPIRE DES LUMIÈRES, 1964 Limited edition Lithograph, Surrealism
By (after) René Magritte
Located in Madrid, Madrid
L'EMPIRE DES LUMIÈRES, 1964 (THE EMPIRE OF LIGHTS, 1964) Date of creation: 2010 Medium: Lithograph on BFK Rives Paper Edition: 275 Size: 60 x 45 cm Observations: Lithograph on BFK Ri...
Lithograph
$1,780
H 30.71 in W 22.84 in
Le Château des Pyrénées - 20th Century, Surrealist, Lithograph, Figurative Print
By (after) René Magritte
Located in Sint-Truiden, BE
Numbered: 193/300 Color lithograph after the 1959 oil on canvas by René Magritte, printed signature of Magritte and numbered from the edition of 300. The lithograph features the dry...
Lithograph
$1,009
H 23.63 in W 17.72 in
La Flèche De Zénon - 20th Century, Surrealist, Lithograph, Figurative Print
By (after) René Magritte
Located in Sint-Truiden, BE
Numbered: 138/275 Color lithograph after the 1964 oil on canvas by René Magritte, printed signature of Magritte and numbered from the edition of 275. The lithograph features the dry...
Lithograph
$1,543
H 22.84 in W 30.71 in
Le Séducteur - 20th Century, Surrealist, Lithograph, Figurative Print
By (after) René Magritte
Located in Sint-Truiden, BE
Color lithograph after the 1951 oil on canvas by René Magritte, printed signature of Magritte and numbered from the edition of 300. The lithograph features the dry stamps of the Mag...
Lithograph
$1,009
H 23.63 in W 17.72 in
Souvenir de Voyage - 20th Century, Surrealist, Lithograph, Figurative Print
By (after) René Magritte
Located in Sint-Truiden, BE
Color lithograph after the 1961 gouache on paper by René Magritte, printed signature of Magritte and numbered from the edition of 275. The lithograph features the dry stamps of the ...
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
Sold
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
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
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