Meret Oppenheim (Berlin 1913–Basel 1985)

The mutilated or amputated hand was a potent motif for Swiss surrealist Meret Oppenheim. Although the artist doesn’t specify the identity of the woman or the breed of animal in Fur Gloves with Wooden Fingers (1936), the work resonates strongly with the legend of the French noblewoman Arline of Barioux.
Fur Gloves with Wooden Fingers is an image that suggests the interwoven fate of women and animals. It also hints at the violence which both have been subjected to throughout history, and of their supposed possession of magical powers.