untitled (self-portrait)

Claude Cahun

1894–1954

untitled (self-portrait), circa 1927

Where object was made: France

Material/technique: gelatin silver print

Dimensions:
Image Dimensions Height/Width (Height x Width): 11.2 x 6.7 cm
Image Dimensions Height/Width (Height x Width): 4 7/16 x 2 5/8 in
Mat Dimensions (Height x Width): 19 x 14 in

Credit line: Museum purchase

Accession number: 1994.0044

Not on display

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Images

Label texts

Bold Women

Claude Cahun rebelled against conventions of gender and sexuality through self-portraiture. With slicked back hair, a direct gaze, and open posture, Cahun performs aspects of masculinity and embodies a quote from their personal writings: “Shuffle the cards. Masculine? Feminine? It depends on the situation. Neuter is the only gender that always suits me.” The artist’s sentiment and gender fluidity remain a relevant forerunner to contemporary acts of resisting fixed definitions of gender.

Exhibition Label: “Embodiment,” Nov-2005, Kate Meyer The enigmatic Claude Cahun, known best as a writer and actor, practiced photography in her free time as well. Cahun privately staged a series of roles before her camera including a seductress, vampire, sailor, courtesan, and even Buddha. These chimerical images were fashioned primarily for her own amusement and few were shown during her lifetime. Archive Label: Claude Cahun was born a woman, but changed her name and her total identity to that of a man. This self-portrait shows Cahun enacting, perhaps even to the point of parody, her assumed masculine role.