Marcelle Cahn

1895 – 1981

Marcelle Cahn was born in Strasbourg, in the Alsace region of France in 1895. She studied in Berlin with Lovis Cornith and in Paris at the Academia Ranson.

Cahn was originally influenced by the Nabis, then by

Fernand Léger and Amédée Ozenfant, and was also associated with Piet Mondrian.

Cahn exhibited in Berlin with the Der Sturm group, the most avant-garde gallery in Germany. In 1919 she came to Paris where she became acquainted with Maurice Denis, Vuillard, and Christian Berard. In 1925 she showed her work in the exhibition Art d’Ajourd’hui in Paris, in 1926 she showed in the Société Anonyme with the Brooklyn Museum. She exhibited at Galerie Effort Moderne, and in 1930 she participated in the group exhibition Cercle et Carré. After 1945, she became completly abstract and exhibited regularly at the Salon des Réalités Nouvelles and at the Galerie Denise René.

Cahn was a modernist in the tradition of the Purists; she explored both lyrical and geometrical abstraction. She experimented with color and composition, and she employed graphic techniques. She had a long and varied career; she exhibited well into the second half of the 20th century. She exhibited and was associated with some of the masters of modern art but is not widely known outside the most sophisticated art circles.

Cahn in represented in the Musée des Beaux-Arts de Strasbourg.