The Erotic Object: Surrealist Sculpture from the Collection

June 24, 2009–January 4, 2010

MoMA

Meret Oppenheim. Object. 1936. Fur-covered cup, saucer, and spoon, cup 4 3/8″ (10.9 cm) in diameter; saucer 9 3/8″ (23.7 cm) in diameter; spoon 8″ (20.2 cm) long, overall height 2 7/8″ (7.3 cm). Purchase. © 2009 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York/Pro Litteris, Zurich
  • MoMA, Floor 4, Collection Galleries The Alfred H. Barr, Jr. Painting and Sculpture Galleries

Surrealist artists, writers, and poets placed persistent emphasis on the power of the imagination to transform the everyday. Beginning in the early 1930s, the production of elliptically erotic, sexually charged objects and sculptures became central to their concerns. This exhibition features some of the most notorious works, including Salvador Dalí’s bread-and-inkwell-crowned Retrospective Bust of a Woman (1933) and Meret Oppenheim’s fur-lined teacup (1936).

Organized by Anne Umland, Curator, with Veronica Roberts, Curatorial Assistant, Department of Painting and Sculpture.

This exhibition, part of an ongoing series highlighting noteworthy aspects of the Museum’s collection, is made possible by BNP Paribas.

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