Kunstmuseum Bern: »Meret Oppenheim. My Exhibition«

Meret Oppenheim: Transatlantic retrospective beyond the surrealist horizon

The life's work of the most important representative of Surrealism in Switzerland, Meret Oppenheim, is being honored several times over these days: oday, a traveling exhibition opens at the Kunstmuseum Bern, which presents her works from the post-war period, some of which have been little studied so far, while the Kunstmuseum in Solothurn is devoting itself to a specific retrospective of her works on paper starting tomorrow.

October 22, 2021
Meret Oppenheim in her studio, 1982. © Margrit Baumann
Kunstmuseum Bern, Bernische Stiftung für Foto, Film und Video, © Margrit Baumann
Meret Oppenheim in her studio, 1982 Photography, baryte print, selenium toned 18,4 x 27,7 cm

Meret Oppenheim. My Exhibition – the life's work of Meret Oppenheim, one of the most important Swiss artists of the 20th century and representative of Surrealism, will be the focus of the Bern Art Museum from October 22, 2021. The transatlantic touring exhibition resulted from a cooperation with the Museum of Modern Art in New York as well as the Menil Collection in Houston, where the retrospective will also be on view - Bern thus represents the only stop in Europe.

A highlight of the exhibition is the illumination of her postwar works, which have received less attention to date, exploring her entertaining orientation towards Pop Art, Nouveau Réalisme, Arte Povera, or Postmodernism. The exhibits also include 200 key works on paper as well as objects, sculptures and paintings from a total of five decades. In Bern, the exhibition can be visited until February 13 2022. The exhibition opening at the Museum of Modern Art of Meret Oppenheim: My Exhibition will be exactly one year later. Those who would like to pay even more attention to Oppenheim's works on paper can visit the complementary event Meret Oppenheim (1913-1985): Works on Paper in Solothurn, 40 km away, starting on October 23, 2021.Art.Salon

Meret Oppenheim, Einige der ungezählten Gesichter der Schönheit (Some of the uncounted faces of beauty), 1942, 2021, ProLitteris, Zurich
Private collection, Photo: Gerhard Howald, Kirchlindach, Bern © 2021, ProLitteris, Zurich
Meret Oppenheim, Einige der ungezählten Gesichter der Schönheit (Some of the uncounted faces of beauty), 1942, oil on canvas 81 x 54 cm

Dive deeper into the art world

Solo show at the Kunstmuseum Solothurn

The Kunstmuseum Solothurn will be showing a retrospective of Meret Oppenheim's work from 23 October 2021 to 27 February 2022. Meret Oppenheim (1913-1985): Works on Paper comprises around 100 exhibits covering Oppenheim's entire creative period from the 1930s to the 1980s and illustrating her lifelong preoccupation with art.

October 22, 2021
London, Tate Britain

It was one of the most moving decades in the history of the United Kingdom: the 1980s, characterized by strikes, protests and AIDS. Photographers documented this period and in some cases became political activists themselves through their images. The exhibition The 80s: Photographing Britain opens on November 21 at the Tate Britain in London.

November 21, 2024