Sans titre

In this photograph by Claude Cahun, the hand is more allegorical than anatomical. Isolated from a body, it emerges from darkness in a cascading composition, punctuated by alternating skin tones and sizes, creating a musicality in black and white. However, this visual harmony is deceptive: only the hands at the ends are human, while those in the center belong to a doll and a mannequin.

Created in 1936, Sans titre illustrates Cahun's surrealist aesthetic, based on staging and the blurring of lines between the living and the inert. A recurring motif in her work, the hand here becomes a vehicle for desire and ambiguity. Between portrait and still life, the image composes a poetic and erotic fable in which immobility itself becomes expressive.

This work is held by the Pinault Collection and was presented for the first time at the "Corps et âmes" exhibition at the Bourse de Commerce in 2025.