“Tea Set” As a Form of Surrealist Art

After Dadaist artists, Marcel Duchamp’s introduction to ready-made objects in art, traditional art shifted through a new form of art making which allows artists to embrace their original form without any academic expectations or rules.

Dadaism (1916–24) believed that art reflect itself through the use of mind and thought. They emphasized absurdity and irrationality.

• What about Surrealism ?

For Surrealism (1924–40s), influenced by Freudian psychology, exploring dreams and the unconsciousness and irrationality of the world. Surrealism influenced by Dadaist principles, many artists used ready-made objects in their art and transformed the objects from their prior use to something new. This metamorphosis of artwork allowed viewer to interpret and observe the meaning behind.

At this exact moment, we encountered women artists entering the arts started from the 1930's. One of the female artist we recognize is,

• Meret Oppenheim

German-Swiss surrealist artist and photographer Meret Oppenheim (1913–1985) was renowned for her avant-garde and thought-provoking pieces.

Born in Berlin, migrated to Switzerland in World War I, attended Basel University, and relocated to Paris in 1932. Influenced by Surrelaist artists, met with André Breton, Max Ernst, and Man Ray while in Paris with the Surrealists. Her most renowned for “Object” (1936), a classic Surrealist teacup, saucer, and spoon coated in fur. Oppenheim persistently explored themes of nature, mythology, darkness, eroticism, dark humor and metamorphosis in her artwork throughout her life. She is hailed as a feminist icon in art for shattering gender stereotypes and fusing the strange with the commonplace.

• Artwork

The “Object ( Luncheon in Fur)” is an artwork recalls the previous artwork through its name, Edouard Manet’s Le Déjeuner sur l’herbe (The Luncheon on the Grass), 1863.

The intentional choose of complete tea set covered with fur is a sexual attitude stands for the women, gentle drinking from the vagina that supports the idea of art become personal revelation. An attitude that surrealism has unconsciousness of the objects.

The Chinese tea set awakens the oral sex, the fetish representation of the Freudian psychology in addition to the title of the artwork focusing on the aspects Manet’s The Luncheon on the Grass is representing freedom and sexuality.

Intersection of primitive aspects of fur connects with the tea set that perceived as a form of etiquette, high-class “Le Goûter” symbol. Collision between polite society and barbaric representation of fur. Furthermore might be commented as the clash of inner and outer self of person.

“If you speak a new language of your own that others have yet to
learn, you may have to wait a very long time for a positive echo.”

- Meret Oppenheim