Photos By Gail

In the early 1970s, Meret Oppenheim (1913 – 1985) began enthusiastically making collages. Octopus’s Garden (1971) is among the largest and most spectacular of those. This work depicts a fantastical underwater landscape, complete with calcified coral forms, trails of bubbles, and cut-out reproductions of peacock feathers.

Detail

By including transparent blue film, Oppenheim gave the entire scene the glassy, light-fractured appearance of water. The playful effect of these exuberant materials is heightened by the work’s musical title, a reference to the Beatles‘ song released in 1969.

Photographed in the Museum of Modern Art in NYC