Meret Oppenheim (1913–85) is one of the most recognized 20th-century artists. This catalog examines her entire career, from the 1930s to the late works, revealing the creative network of relationships she nurtured with her peers during her time in Paris. Man Ray, Marcel Duchamp, Max Ernst, Alberto Giacometti, Hans Arp and others are documented in this publication through some of their most significant works.
What emerges is the extent to which the artist influenced the Surrealist vocabulary in which objects turn into fetishes, oneiric and erotic fantasies intermingle and women are seen as innocent or evil, enveloped in mysterious nature. Her creative freedom and the extraordinary evocative power of her works have made her a key figure for many generations of artists, as can be seen here through parallels with creations by Daniel Spoerri, Birgit Jürgenssen, Robert Gober and Mona Hatoum.