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Oppenheim: Object

Book Hero Magic crafted this summary to help describe this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Summary
In 1936, Meret Oppenheim transformed a simple cup, saucer, and spoon by covering them with Chinese gazelle fur, creating the iconic Surrealist sculpture Object. Inspired by a conversation with Pablo Picasso and Dora Maar, this work challenges perceptions by blending sensuality and discomfort, embodying the dreamlike nature of Surrealism. Carolyn Lanchner, former MoMA curator, delves into the subversive elements of Oppenheim's creation in this focused volume from the MoMA One on One series.
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Format: Paperback / softback
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This book will appeal to readers interested in Surrealism, modern art history, and those fascinated by iconic cultural objects and their meanings.

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In 1936, invited by Andre Breton to contribute to an exhibition of Surrealist objects, Meret Oppenheim decided to act upon a cafe conversation she had with Pablo Picasso and his companion Dora Maar. In this volume, an essay by a former curator of painting and sculpture at MoMA, explores the subversive nature of this sensual yet disturbing work.

The latest addition to MoMA's One on One series.

Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Description

In 1936, invited by André Breton to contribute to an exhibition of Surrealist objects, Meret Oppenheim decided to act upon a café conversation she had recently had with Pablo Picasso and his then-companion Dora Maar. Commenting on a fur-covered bracelet that Oppenheim had made for the designer Schiaparelli, Picasso remarked that one could cover just about anything in fur, to which Oppenheim had responded, "Even this cup and saucer."

The resulting sculpture was Object, a teacup, saucer, and spoon purchased from a department store and lined with Chinese gazelle fur. In this volume of the MoMA One on One series, an essay by Carolyn Lanchner, a former curator of painting and sculpture at MoMA, explores the subversive nature of this sensual yet disturbing work, which simultaneously attracts and repels the viewer, and of the dreamlike world of Surrealism in which Oppenheim worked.

Series: MoMA One on One Series

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    Tarsila do Amaral's painting The Moon (1928), a highly stylised, desolate nocturne, grew from the artist's desire to create a new national form of expression for Brazil. In The Moon and other paintings of the late 1920s, do Amaral successfully "cannibalised" modern European painting and Brazilian popular culture and Indigenous lore to transform them into something new. In this volume...
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    Helen Levitt's photographs from the 1930s and 1940s of the communities of New York City's Harlem are startling achievements of street photography. They catch the evanescent configurations of gesture, movement, pose and expression that make visible the street as surreal theatre, and everyday life as art and mystery. The unguarded life of children at play became, understandably, Levitt's particular preoccupation....
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  • Oppenheim: Object
    In 1936, invited by André Breton to contribute to an exhibition of Surrealist objects, Meret Oppenheim decided to act upon a café conversation she had recently had with Pablo Picasso and his then-companion Dora Maar. Commenting on a fur-covered bracelet that Oppenheim had made for the designer Schiaparelli, Picasso remarked that one could cover just about anything in fur, to...
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  • Romare Bearden: Patchwork Quilt
    Romare Bearden's art speaks powerfully of specific, often disregarded, life experiences while making them broadly accessible. Patchwork Quilt (1970), a monumental composition dominated by a prone figure and bands of fabric unfolding across the composition, was acquired by The Museum of Modern Art the year it was made, and quickly became a landmark in Bearden's career. But his place in...
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Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9781633450196

Publisher: Museum of Modern Art

Format: Paperback / softback

Date Published: 05 October 2017

Country: United States

Imprint: Museum of Modern Art

Illustration: Illustrated in colour and black and white throughout

Audience: General / adult

DIMENSIONS

Width: 185.0mm

Height: 230.0mm

Weight: 210g

Pages: 48

About the Author

Carolyn Lanchner is a former curator in the Department of Painting and Sculpture at The Museum of Modern Art, New York.

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