René Magritte. Portrait. 1935.
Oil on canvas. 28 7/8 x 19 7/8".
The Museum of Modern Art, New York.
Gift of Kay Sage Tanguy.
©C. Herscovici, Brussels/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York


 

 
Meret Oppenheim. Object. 1936. Fur-covered cup, saucer, and spoon.
Cup 4 3/8" diameter; saucer 9 3/8" diameter; spoon 8" long; overall height: 2 7/8".
The Museum of Modern Art, New York. Purchase

 
Joan Miró. Poetic Object. 1936.
Assemblage: stuffed parrot on wood perch, stuffed silk stocking with velvet garter and doll’s paper shoe suspended in hollow wood frame, derby hat, hanging cork ball, celluloid fish, and engraved map. 31 7/8 x 11 7/8 x 10 1/4"
The Museum of Modern Art, New York.
Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Pierre Matisse.
©1997 Artists Rights Society (ARS),
New York/ADAGP, Paris


 
 
  VII. Languages of Surrealism, Languages of Subversion
 
  "An object is not so possessed of its name that one cannot find for it another which suits it better." René Magritte, "Les mots et les images," 1929.

Central to Surrealism, perhaps the most important literary and artistic movement of 1920s Paris, was the aim of subverting accepted cultural premises. The juxtaposition of unrelated objects, words, and concepts—whether by chance or intention—was fundamental to the work of the Surrealists, who assembled disparate objects to dispel predetermined notions and to spark uninhibited (often erotic) associations. Meret Oppenheim’s Object, 1936, a teacup, saucer, and spoon covered with fur, is emblematic of the use of incompatible elements to convey sexual connotations and trigger the emotion of desire.