Life and career
Origins and training
Oppenheim joined Paris’s Surrealist circle as a young artist. The famous fur-covered cup brought rapid attention, but it was only one part of a long and varied career.
Places, turning points and artistic change
She returned to Switzerland in 1937 and trained in design and conservation. A more active period followed her establishment of a Bern studio in 1954, with painting, drawing, collage and sculpture.
Beyond the studio
Her resistance to being defined by one object, or by gendered expectations, is part of her influence. Jewellery, found materials and everyday objects could all become serious artistic tools.
Works across a career
Selected examples, not a complete catalogue. Read date ranges and attributions before inferring a career sequence.
Reading the selected works together
The painting, cup and late glove show why her career cannot be reduced to a single Surrealist joke.
- 01
Paris, 1936
Paris, 1936
Object
- Material / technique
- Fur-covered cup, saucer, and spoon
- Attribution / role
- Collection / source
- The Museum of Modern Art
Artist-wide context
An unexpected material can make an ordinary object feel strange, intimate or uncomfortable.
- 02
1936
1936
Red Head, Blue Body
- Material / technique
- Oil on canvas
- Attribution / role
- See the museum attribution
- Collection / source
- MoMA — Meret Oppenheim
Organic forms and lines make an imagined body feel connected yet unstable.
- 03
1985
1985
Glove (for Parkett no. 4)
- Material / technique
- Editioned object
- Attribution / role
- See the museum attribution
- Collection / source
- MoMA — Meret Oppenheim
A late work connecting the hand, clothing and the transformed everyday object.
Materials, marks and colour
Media and surface
Ordinary objects change when an unexpected material covers or joins them.
Marks and structure
Biomorphic outlines and unusual combinations make familiar things uncertain.
Palette and light
Texture and bodily associations can matter as much as hue.