Between Spring Banquet and Cannibal Banquet: Cannibalistic Imagery in Meret Oppenheim’s Works

Abstract

This article discusses the cannibalistic imagery in Meret Oppenheim’s works. The crucial aspect is the comparison of two versions of a seemingly similar event in which anthropophagic motifs were significantly present—Spring Banquet and Cannibal Banquet. Often mistaken or wrongly attributed, these events were essentially non-identical and evoked contrasting meanings. The comparison of Spring Banquet and Cannibal Banquet proves that they represent contradictory aspects of anthropophagic imagery. The primary research question is whether Oppenheim’s use of cannibalistic motifs differs from the manner in which they are utilized by male surrealists. Therefore, cannibalistic imagery in the works of Oppenheim is described in the context of avant-garde preoccupation with gendered anthropophagy in which a woman is imagined as an object of consumption. This article concludes with an argument that Oppenheim attempted to subvert the prevailing meanings of cannibalism in surrealism. This article also discusses Oppenheim’s other artworks with anthropophagic connotations, including Ma gouvernante—My Nurse—mein Kindermädchen (1936) and the less-known Bon appétit, Marcel! (The White Queen, 1966).