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Claude Cahun

1894–1954

Crystal Heads, British Museum, London, June-July 1936 1936
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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.

In her writing, Cahun mostly referred to herself with grammatically feminine words, but she also said that her actual gender was fluid. For example, in Disavowals, Cahun writes: "Masculine? Feminine? It depends on the situation. Neuter is the only gender that always suits me." Cahun is most well known for her androgynous appearance, which challenged the strict gender roles of her time.

During World War II, Cahun was also active as a resistance worker and propagandist, founding the leftist group Contre Attaque, a union of communist writers, artists and workers, alongside André Breton and Marcel Moore.

This biography is from Wikipedia under an Attribution-ShareAlike Creative Commons License. Spotted a problem? Let us know.

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Surrealism

Artworks

  • Untitled

    Claude Cahun
    1936
    View by appointment
  • Untitled

    Claude Cahun
    1936
    View by appointment
  • I Extend My Arms

    Claude Cahun
    1931 or 1932
    On display at Tate Modern part of Media Networks
  • Untitled

    Claude Cahun
    1936
    View by appointment
  • Crystal Heads, British Museum, London, June-July 1936

    Claude Cahun
    1936

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