Meret Oppenheim

Meret Oppenheim was a German-born Swiss artist who moved to Paris at 18 and joined the Surrealists, posing for photographs by Man Ray. In 1936 she made Object, a cup, saucer and spoon covered in gazelle fur, which was bought by the Museum of Modern Art in New York and became an emblem of Surrealism. She went through a long creative crisis after returning to Switzerland, then worked again from the 1950s on paintings, objects, jewellery and a fountain in Bern. She remained wary of being remembered only for the teacup.