Meret Oppenheim: Fountain Stories

More than any other Surrealist, the Swiss artist Meret Oppenheim (1913-1985) embraced, pursued and defined Surrealism's cult of the object, fashioning such classic works as the famous fur cup (at the age of 23!) and the trussed high-heels, infusing everyday domestic objects with a concise eroticism. Yet many facets of her innovative and wide-ranging practice remain unknown to this day, including her extraordinary fountain projects. From the late 1960s until her death, Oppenheim designed and produced models for a series of freewheeling aquatic sculptures. Only three of these have been realized: the "Meret Oppenheim Fountain" in Bern in her native Switzerland, the "Spiral (Nature's Course)" in Paris and the "Hermes Fountain" located in the garden of artist and onetime collaborator Daniel Spoerri in Seggiano, Italy. Fountain Stories is the first to gather all of Oppenheim's fountain projects, including her drawings and unrealized models, into a single definitive publication.