SwissArtGallery · Documented identity

Marcelle Cahn

Born : 1895Died : 1981Documented citizenships : France

The French painter Marcelle Cahn, born in 1895 and died in 1981, combines a life spent across several European cities with an intellectual education in literature and philosophy, and speaks both German and French. At the University of Strasbourg, she studies these disciplines and takes drawing lessons from Émile Schneider, Joseph Sattler and Georges Ritleng, before moving to Berlin in 1915 with her mother and brother and then working there with the portrait painters Eugen Spiro and Lovis Corinth. From 1920, she divides her time between Paris and Strasbourg and spends extended periods at the University of Zurich, where she becomes familiar with Kant.

From 1927 to 1930, she exhibits every year at the Société des artistes indépendants. In 1929, invited by Nelly van Doesburg, she sends four paintings to the Exposition sélective d’art contemporain d’Amsterdam.

When war breaks out, Cahn takes refuge with her mother in a monastery in Toulouse to escape the antisemitic laws; her mother dies in 1945. The artist returns to Paris in 1947. The following year, she begins regularly exhibiting abstract compositions at the Salon des réalités nouvelles and in galleries. From 1952, she makes collages, later adding photographic elements to them; she describes them as «a certain sound that a painting cannot have».

The documented works show the range of supports used: Le Tram, an oil painting on canvas from 1927, precedes 4 Sphères, which combines tempera on canvas and collage in 1960. This work measures 73 × 100 cm. In 1969, Spatial B is made from painted wood. A Sans titre from 1981 is a collage on cardboard. In 1966, Cahn signs her first contract with the Denise René gallery, renewed in the mid-1970s and maintained until her death. In 1980, she donates a group of 200 collages to the museum of Strasbourg. The collages from this donation are shown at the Musée d’Art moderne de Strasbourg in 1986, followed by the exhibition Marcelle Cahn, entre amis at the Musée des Ursulines in Mâcon in 2010–2011. A thesis devoted to her life and work, entitled Marcelle Cahn (1895-1981). Sa vie. Son œuvre. Catalogue raisonné, is defended by Mireille Cordonnier-Kraft in Strasbourg in 1987.

This profile brings together identity references for Marcelle Cahn and paintings, drawings and works on paper documented in auction catalogues.

42 references are documented at Germann, Artcurial Beurret Bailly Widmer, Piguet. Each record links to its source; the amounts are not a general valuation of the artist’s work.

Works recorded at auction

Photograph : Artcurial Beurret Bailly Widmer · Enlarge image ↗

Artcurial Beurret Bailly Widmer · Lot 179

Constellation lyrique 1, 1966

Oil on canvas

Original catalogue wording

Constellation lyrique 1, 1966
huile sur toile

Catalogue period : 2026-06-24

Published result : 9527 CHF

Including buyer’s premium

Estimate : CHF 3000–5000

Marcelle Cahn

Works recorded at auction

Constellation lyrique 1, 1966

Hommage à Malevitch, 1966

Composition

Composition

Composition

Composition

Composition, 1975

Composition, 1969

Composition, 1975

Composition, 1975

Buste de femme, 1935

Composition, 1971

Sans titre, 1973

Sans titre, 1960

Composition, 1951

2 Kompositionen

Composition

Untitled

Untitled, 1957

Sans titre, 1941

Sans titre, 1929

Untitled

Sans titre, 1971

Ascendance, 1936

Femme assise, 1911

Baigneuses, 1925

Trois disques, 1966

Sans titre, 1956

Double dessin, 1959

Dessin N° 65, 1925

Sans titre, 1926

Composition, um 1965

Nu, 1935

Sans titre, 1973

Sans titre, 1930

Dessin (A1), 1961

Zwei Figuren (Dessin cubiste), 1925

Composition, 1951

Sans titre, 1968

Sans titre, 1966

Sans titre, 1973

References excluded from statistics: attributions and special lots

3 Zeichnungen: Aktstudien (2); Kopfstudie

Sources and references

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