Question posed:  Is Margaret 's Oppenheim's Fur Cup (actually titled "Object", 1936, created in Paris by the Swiss Artist) art?   My response: Any type of expression is art. A fun game to play is “Is this Art?” on http://www.ovationtv.com link for Robert Rauschenberg http://www.ovationtv.com/programs/14 the documentary they just did on him is phenomenal (I am so sad he died, I’ve never met him, but I was in his presence in 2004 at the Whitney Biennial opening) and he actually tells the story (in this documentary) of finding the goat in a thrift store in NYC, he was supposed to pay $50 but the guy went out of business before he finished paying . . .   and, he did many versions before the tire was the “one” . . . titled "Monogram", and referred to as combines.  1958-1959, Robert Rauschenberg, American Artist. What is important about this type of art (altering ready-mades or found objects) is that the focal object is transformed - just as in Oppenheim’s “fur cup” (a Dada creation) the utility of the object is negated and the artist (manipulator), [think of Marcel Duchamp's Bicycle Wheel   , third version shown, circa 1951 and Man Ray's "La Cadeau" - (image provided by www.MOMO.orgimage of right, 1958 copy of 1921 original) these can also be referred to as ready mades] . . . creates a reincarnation. To me this is almost a bigger talent than creating something from thin air, because you have to KNOW the essence of the item, deconstruct its tautology and change it enough so that the alteration stands up equally to the original inference. There is a syndrome that is a strong, fervent reaction to art: Stendhal syndrome, Stendhal’s syndrome or Florence syndrome, is a psychosomatic illness that causes rapid heartbeat, dizziness, confusion and even hallucinations when an individual is exposed to art, usually when the art is particularly ‘beautiful’ or a large amount of art is in a single place. The term can also be used to describe a similar reaction to a surfeit of choice in other circumstances, e.g. when confronted with immense beauty in the natural world. [wikipedia definition] So I have had 2 episodes of Stendhal - one was at the OLD (my preferred) MOMA in NYC, standing in the DADA room, I thought they would need to call an ambulance. After studying art for years, I expected (and thought they deserved) for each piece to be in an altar or alcove all its own. I was stunned that the pieces were just squished together and grouped in vitrines . . . happy to see them, but felt that they were diminished by their placement. Note: The new MOMA is a thousand times worse. It is beyond bad. The architecture itself is great, but the way it is dis-organized and crammed, paintings grouped behind vitrines and propped on shelves - I am desultory.  Although the statement is that they designers followed the 'meandering' path of contemporary/modern art - I personally feel it sucks as an art viewing experience.  Guess I will never get a job or show there, huh????  But Andy Warhol was rejected for years, so who knows?! 2nd episode - 2007 standing inside the Romanesque cathedral at Ravenna, Italy. Victorians would have said I got the vapors (but I think that means gas, and that was NOT the case) - Donny took a photo of me with my mouth hanging open and tears streaming down my face, I looked like that all day. I am getting chills just thinking about it. Note: there is no way to photograph the entire visual of standing within Ravenna, because it is as if you are INSIDE a snow globe and glittering glass and metallic mosaics are flickering in the filtered light - above, below, and on all sides.  It was truly a sacred, transforming, spiritual event for me. Post script: I have used fur in some art work - it is very effective.