Claude Cahun created some of the most startlingly original and enigmatic photographic images of the 20th century. Prefiguring by over 70 years many of the concerns explored by contemporary artists today, the importance of their work is increasingly recognised.
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| • Background • Viewing the collection • Reproductions • Explore the collection: highlights and categories • Search the collection |
Background
Since their “rediscovery” over a decade ago, Claude Cahun has attracted what amounts to a cult following among art historians and critics working from postmodern, feminist, and queer theoretical perspectives. In 1986, Hal Foster dubbed Cahun ‘a Cindy Sherman avant la lettre.’ Since then, photographs of Cahun posing in the 1920s and 1930s in various dramatic settings and guises have been displayed alongside contemporary works.
The Jersey Heritage collection represents the largest repository of the artistic work of Cahun, who moved to Jersey in 1937 with stepsister and lover Marcel Moore, was imprisoned for resistance activities during the Occupation, and remained here after the war until their death in 1954.
Viewing the collection
There are high-resolution digital copies of most of the material in the Cahun collection available to view free at the Jersey Archive. Please get in touch to make an appointment to view this material.
Access to the original material is limited for preservation reasons. If you do want access to the original material, you will need to complete this application form with more details of your study, the list of material that you would like to view and the reason that you specifically need to see the originals rather than digital copies. Once complete, please send this form to [email protected].
Otherwise, digital copies of the entire collection are available to view on the Jersey Heritage Online Catalogue for free. To find out more, see Explore the collection below.
Please note that the collection of negatives is closed and not available to view.
Reproductions
Our table of fees for reproductions can be found here. For any reproduction requests or enquiries, whether for exhibition, publication, film or academic purposes, please contact [email protected].
Explore the collection
The whole Cahun collection is available to view for free online. Interested, but not sure where to begin? Why not try Collection Highlights, a specially curated selection of 10 items which provides an overview of the lives of Cahun and Moore. Click the button below to view…
…or to browse the different categories of this vast collection, click on one of the icons below:
