The time is 1938 in Paris. Meret
Oppenheim became one of the few female Surrealists of her time. Looking at
Stone Woman in its muted, earthy tones calms one but it still delivers a
dramatic statement. Giving a strong direction towards feminism and how Ms.
Oppenheim viewed her world. Studying this painting with a critical eye, and
exploring Ms. Oppenheim’s views between the dominant male society she lived and
the effects it had on her art. There
is a lot of contradiction in her art on the one hand and very independent
narrative, on the other.
Ms. Oppenheim was born in Switzerland
in 1913 and raised by her grandparents.
At the age of 18 she entered school at the Academie de la Grande
Chaumiere in Paris. She had the privilege of modeling for Man Ray and befriended
Alberto Giacometti and Hans Arp. This coming at a time when women were viewed
as objects and muses, she felt that the modeling did not suit her, so she
started to create art herself. (Bhattacharya-Stettler) They all introduced her to the world of
Surrealism. She took everyday objects and created art with fetishistic undertones
and she also explored the woman’s role in sexuality and how man uses the woman
as a sexual object. (Belton) This is
noted in Stone Woman in a noticeable manner.
Looking at Stone Woman, the painting
contains distinct horizontal lines in the sea, and beach giving a stable
background. Glimmering sands at the top of the piece and highlights on the sea lead
way to signs of a sunny day. The body of Stone Woman cast diagonally across the
picture adds the dramatic edge. The
large grey stone with the white striations, takes ones eye directly to that
spot in the center of the painting. From that point you notice that the woman
is wearing a fur skirt, which could represent numerous things. One that the
woman could be nurturing and warm at heart, fertile, or something towards a
sexual reference. The stones that lie upon the body might represent the world
(man) suppressing the woman holding her back from attaining her goals. Could it
be that the stones are made to actually be the man atop of the woman? The stone
above the large grey one could represent a heart and the stone placed between
the legs could lend to a sexual reference again. Maybe the stones represent
that she is one with the Earth, Mother Nature’s creation. Her legs are as though they are reaching into
the sea for power or rejuvenation and strength to break through the stones to
become herself. One might think that the
true concept is that the sea could be trying to take her back into its depths
and the stones grounding her so she cannot leave this earth. I find this piece
of art somewhat haunting that the image stays with you long after seeing it. To
me the work is very thought provoking and I find the usage of an odd number of
stones, seven pleasing to the eye and mind.
I am a huge fan of the Surrealists and
to study one that I was not very familiar with was important. That she was a
female in a male dominated art world was also very meaningful and inspiring. Meret
Oppenheim had many contributions to the Surrealist world she inhabited. Many of
her pieces are not as well-known as her Object (Le Déjeuner en fourrure), a
fur covered tea cup. Like many of the artists of her time, she too struggled
with her inner demons and destroyed much of the work she completed. She also
abandoned the art world for almost two decades to possibly regroup for the next
stage in her life in the 1950s. (Wikipedia) In the late 1970s she had made herself
noticeable in the art world once again and became admired among the younger
European artists. I will leave you with a quote from her, "Nobody gives you freedom, you have
to take it" (Wikipedia)
Works
Cited
Belton, Dr. Robert. “art, The World of Art, from Aboriginal to
American Pop, Renaissance Masters to Postmodernism”. New York: Watson-Guptill
Publications 2002. Print
Bhattacharya-Stettler, Dr. Therese. “Art
as an Elixir of Life”. www.kunstmuseumbern.ch. 2006 June.
Web
n.a. “Méret Elisabeth Oppenheim”. www.wikipedia.com. 2015 July. Web
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