Meret Oppenheim (1913-1985) was most known for her Surrealist objects, most notably her Furlined Teacup, which she created when she was only 22 years old.

Meret Oppenheim was born in 1913 near Basel, Switzerland. Perhaps her parents knew that she was to lead a creative and unorthodox life as they named her after Meretlein, the "little Meret" of a book by the Swiss-German novelist and poet Gottfried Keller. In this book Keller wrote of a little girl who was thought to bewitch all by her unconventional habits. Like her namesake, Oppenheim was also a free spirit who never felt confined by social norms.

Oppenheim grew up in Switzerland and in South Germany. Her family was quite accustomed to creative and artistic activities: her aunt, Ruth Werner, was at one time married to Hermann Hesse and her grandmother, Lise Wenger, was a writer and painter. Always receptive to new ideas, Grandmother...