Claude Cahun

1894–1954

Claude Cahun, ‘Crystal Heads, British Museum, London, June-July 1936’ 1936
Crystal Heads, British Museum, London, June-July 1936 1936
© The estate of Claude Cahun
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In Tate Liverpool

Whose Tradition?: Whose Tradition?

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In Tate Britain

Prints and Drawings Rooms

3 artworks by Claude Cahun
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Biography

Claude Cahun (French pronunciation: ​[klod ka.œ̃], born Lucy Renee Mathilde Schwob, 25 October 1894 – 8 December 1954) was a French surrealist photographer, sculptor, and writer.

Schwob adopted the pseudonym Claude Cahun in 1914. Cahun is best known as a writer and self-portraitist, who assumed a variety of performative personae.

Cahun's work is both political and personal. In Disavowals, she writes: "Masculine? Feminine? It depends on the situation. Neuter is the only gender that always suits me."

During World War II, Cahun was also active as a resistance worker and propagandist.

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Surrealism

Artworks

Features

  • Claude Cahun, ‘I Extend My Arms’ 1931 or 1932

    MicroTate 36

    Lubaina Himid and Peter C van Wyck

    New reflections on two works by Bridget Riley and Claude Cahun

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    Elisabeth Lebovici

    Can a book with no text paint a portrait of a writer? Elisabeth Lebovici examines the challenging representation of identity …

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