Group 2
Skip to main content
Ma gouvernante - My Nurse - Mein Kindermädchen
Ma gouvernante - My Nurse - Mein Kindermädchen
Ma gouvernante - My Nurse - Mein Kindermädchen
Photo: Prallan Allsten/Moderna Museet

Ma gouvernante - My Nurse - Mein Kindermädchen

Artist (Schweiz, 1913 - 1985)
Alternate Title
  • Min guvernant
Date1936/1967
MediumMetal plate, shoes, string, paper
Dimensions14 x 33 x 21 cm
Classification
Countries
Credit LineInköp 1967 med bidrag från Moderna Museets Vänner
Object NumberNMSK 1972
The artwork is not on display
About the artworkA pair of trussed white pumps are served on a silver plate. The heels are adorned with white paper ruffles of the kind formerly used for chicken or lamb chops at fancy dinners. In surrealist works such as this, objects that don’t “belong together” are often combined, like in dreams. The surrealists were interested in dreams, sexuality and urges, influenced by Sigmund Freud and psychoanalysis, which was new at the time. Shoes can also be seen as a fetish, an ordinary object that is charged with sexual meaning. Several of Meret Oppenheim’s works concern the construction of “femininity”. In that perspective, the string around the shoes can be read as a symbol of how roles are forced upon women. Ma gouvernante – My Nurse – Mein Kindermädchen is the artist’s own title. Oppenheim has said that the white shoes brought back memories of a childhood nanny. Description Replik utförd 1967 Selected exhibition history Internationell Surrealism (1998) Moderna Museet, Stockholm Samlingsutställning 2004 - 2011 - I vår tid (2004 - 2011) Moderna Museet, Stockholm Moderna Museet c/o Bildmuseet - Dada och surrealism (2003) Bildmuseet, Umeå Meret Oppenheim 2004 (2004) Moderna Museet, Stockholm Moderna Museets samling i ny presentation (1998-2000) Moderna Museet, Stockholm Surrealism? (1970) Sundsvalls Museum Supersurrealismen (den 29 september 2012 - den 27 januari 2013) Moderna Museet Malmö Givet av MMV (1972) Moderna Museet, Stockholm Moderna Museet c/o Malmö Konsthall (2003) Malmö Konsthall Meret Oppenheim (1967) Moderna Museet, Stockholm Mästerverken åter. Verk av spanska konstnärer ur Samling S. runt den återbördade Picassos Källan. (1995) Moderna Museet, Stockholm Den underjordiska himlen. Surrealism i Moderna Museets samling (den 26 oktober 2024 - den 17 januari 2027) Moderna Museet, Stockholm Samlingsutställning 2019-2022 (den 1 februari 2019 - den 27 augusti 2023) Moderna Museet, Stockholm The Moderna Museet exhibition catalogues Surrealism? : [Moderna Museet, Stockholm : 6 mars - 12 april 1970]Meret Oppenheim : [Moderna Museet : 15 april - 21 maj 1967]Mästerverken åter! Moderna Museet, Spårvagnshallarna : [6 maj - 27 augusti 1995]Givet av Moderna Museets vänner : [Moderna Museet : 22.1 - 13.2 1972]Meret Oppenheim: Moderna Museet [4.9-31.10] 2004The Masterpieces are back! : Moderna Museet, Spårvagnshallarna : [May 6th - August 27th 1995]Moderna Museet c/o Malmö Konsthall : [Malmö Konsthall : 8 februari - 4 maj 2003] Bibliography Linde, Ulf, Dagens Nyheter, 21/4 1967. Liedholm, Alf, Uppsala Nya Tidning, 12/5 1967. Edgren, Lennart "Munnen full av hår", Nerikes Allehanda, 17/6 1967. von Holten, Ragnar, "Till följd av en pälskopp", Svenska Dagbladet, 5/3 1983. Moderna Museet, annons, Dagens Nyheter, 19/4 1993. Mundy, Jennifer (red.), Surrealism Unbound, London 2001, s. 45. La Révolution Surrealiste, Paris 2002, ill. s 271. Taube, Maria, Kärleken och döden: Konst på Moderna Museet, Stockholm 2002, s 50, ill. s 51. Spies, Werner m fl, Surrealismus 1919-1944, Düsseldorf 2002, ill. s 281. Wiklund, Malin, These Boots Aren't Made for Walking, c-uppsats i Konstvetenskap vid Stockholms universitet, VT 05.