Claude Cahun: a sensual politics of photography

222 Pages·2007·8.551 MB·English

by  Cahun, Claude;Doy, Gen

Claude Cahun

Claude Cahun
A Sensual Politics
of Photography
Gen Doy

This book is dedicated to the memory of my mother, Margaret Elise Greig,
and especially to the memory of my father, Roy Noël Doy, who supported
me always.
Also, with much love to my sons Sean and Davey, and all who would
like to see the world change for the better, like Claude Cahun.
Published in 2007 by I.B.Tauris & Co. Ltd
6 Salem Road, London W2 4BU
175 Fifth Avenue, New York NY10010
www.ibtauris.com
In the United States and Canada distributed by Palgrave Macmillan,
a division of St. Martin’s Press, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York NY10010
Copyright © Gen Doy, 2007
The right of Gen Doy to be identified as the author of this work has been
asserted by her in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act
1988.
All rights reserved. Except for brief quotations in a review, this book, or
any part thereof, may not be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a
retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic,
mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior
written permission of the publisher.
ISBN: 978 1 84511 550 0 (Hb)
978 1 84511 551 7 (Pb)
Afull CIPrecord for this book is available from the British Library
Afull CIPrecord for this book is available from the Library of Congress
Library of Congress catalog card: available
Typeset in Palatino by Dexter Haven Associates Ltd, London
Printed and bound in Great Britain by TJ International, Padstow, Cornwall.
Contents
List of Illustrations ix
Acknowledgements xiii
ABrief Chronology xv
Introduction 1
1 Medusa and Her Sisters 15
2 Masks, Masquerades and Mirrors 36
3 Love, Politics and What She Wore 81
4 Politics and Its Objects 109
Afterword 141
Notes 149
Select Bibliography 193
Index 201

List of Illustrations
(All images are photographs unless otherwise stated)
(Jersey Heritage Trust is abbreviated to JHT)
BLACK AND WHITE ILLUSTRATIONS
1. Claude Cahun, Self-portrait, 21 x 12.4 cms, 2
ca. 1920, JHT.
2. Claude Cahun and Marcel Moore, 7
photomontage frontispiece to chapter 11 of
Aveux non Avenus, published 1930, JHT.
3. Claude Cahun, Self-portrait, 17.8 x 23.6 cms, 1914, JHT. 16
4. After Félicien Rops, illustration for ‘Les 22
Marionnettes de l’Amour’, by Marcel Schwob
(original watercolour 1872–1876), published
in O. Uzanne, ed., Féminies, Académie des Beaux Livres
Paris, 1896, courtesy Bibliothèque Nationale de France.
5. Claude Cahun (and Marcel Moore ?), Schwob/Cahun 24
reading with ‘L’Image de la Femme’,
11 x 8.2 cms, ca. 1915, JHT.
6. Claude Cahun, Self-portrait with Masks on Cloak, 41
12 x 9.4 cms, ca. 1928, JHT.
7. Claude Cahun, Self-portrait with Mask, 10 x 7.6 cms, 42
ca. 1928, Musée des Beaux-Arts, Nantes, photo RMN
copyright Gérard Blot.
8. Claude Cahun (and Marcel Moore?), Têtes de 43
Cristal, British Museum, London, 10.8 x 8.2 cms,
June–July 1936, JHT.
9. Claude Cahun, Self-portrait with Mirror, 59
10.7 x 8.2 cms, 1928, JHT.
10. Claude Cahun, Marcel Moore and Mirror, 60
10.7 x 8.2 cms, 1928, JHT.
ix
x Claude Cahun
11. Claude Cahun, Self-portrait in Flowers, 10.3 x 65
7.8 cms, ca. 1939, private collection.
12. Claude Cahun, Self-portrait in Poppy Field, 68
9.9 x 8.0 cms, ca. 1939, JHT.
13. Photographic wallet from Cahun/Malherbe 71
archive, JHT.
14. Photographic wallet from Cahun/Malherbe 72
archive, JHT.
15. Claude Cahun, Self-portrait, 10.9 x 8.2 cms, ca. 82
1921, courtesy Richard and Ronay Menschel.
16. Registration card of Lucie Schwob, issued 1922, 83
Jersey Archives.
17. ‘Passport’ photo of Claude Cahun, 84
private collection, UK.
18. Claude Cahun (and Marcel Moore?), Self-portrait 87
at Door, 8.0 x 5.5 cms, ca. 1937, JHT.
19. Emmy Lou Packard, Frida Kahlo leaning against 92
a wall holding a cigarette, 19 x 19 cms, gelatin
silver print, 1941, courtesy of Throckmorton
Fine Art, New York.
20. Claude Cahun (and Marcel Moore?), Self-portrait 100
in Velvet Evening Gown, 10.2 x 7.3 cms, ca. 1939, JHT.
21. Claude Cahun (and Marcel Moore?), Self-portrait 108
at Cemetery, 7.9 x 5.6 cms, ca. 1947, JHT.
22. Claude Cahun, Poupée1, 10.8 110
x 8.2 cms, September 1936, JHT.
23. Claude Cahun, Le Coeur de Pic, plate XIX, 10.9 x 117
8.2 cms, 1936, JHT.
24. Claude Cahun, Objects in Bell Jar, 10.8 x 8.3 cms, 122
1936, JHT.
25. Claude Cahun, Self-portrait in Dresser, 10.3 x 7.7 132
cms, ca. 1932, JHT.
26. Claude Cahun, Interior at 70bis Rue Notre-Dame 136
des Champs, Paris, 10.8 x 8.2 cms, February
1938, private collection.
27. Claude Cahun, Untitled, from negative, 137
ca. 1932–1936, JHT.
28. Countess Castiglione (at the Mayer and 142
Pierson Studio), Self-portrait showing her legs,