Claude Cahun, who was born Lucy Schwob, is regarded as one of the most important photographers of the 20th century, and there has been a resurgence in her work since the mid-1990s when Jersey Heritage acquired her collection.
She collaborated with her step-sister and lover Suzanne Malherbe, who used the professional name of Marcel Moore.
Jersey Heritage learned this week that the council has named a street in the French capital’s sixth district – which includes the Latin Quarter and Jardin du Luxembourg – Allée Claude Cahun et Marcel Moore.
‘It is only right that both Claude Cahun and Marcel Moore have been recognised together, as the one would not have existed without the other,’ Jersey Heritage curation and experience director Louise Downey said.
The organisation is increasingly loaning items for the collection for exhibitions around the world including the National Gallery in London and museums and galleries in France, Australia, Germany, Spain and North America.
‘The collection has been hugely successful in terms of getting the name of Jersey Heritage out to the world as Cahun is an internationally known artist,’ Ms Downey said.
‘The loans that go out from the collection are by far the biggest requests we receive for works in our care and that increases the profile of Jersey internationally.’
Cahun and Moore lived in Paris from 1919 to 1937 where they were active in the surrealist art scene, challenging conventional society by exploring their own sexuality and gender through their photography and writing.
They left France to escape the rise of fascism and set up home in St Brelade’s Bay. During the Occupation they were active in resistance against the Germans, which led to both women being sentenced to death in 1944.
Wartime Bailiff, Sir Alexander Coutanche, was successful in getting their sentences commuted to life in prison.
Cahun died in Jersey in 1954 and Moore died in 1972.
