Unica Zürn

Unica Zürn was a German author and painter, born in 1916. She is known mainly for her strange line drawings, being prone to depression and for really liking anagrams. The latter probably meant she was an amazing Scrabble player. In 1953 she met the German surrealist Hans Bellmer, who promptly made her his lover, model and muse. As a result she was now involved with the surrealist movement, and was soon running in social circles which included the likes of Man Ray and Henri Michaux. Michaux was experimenting heavily with mescaline at the time as a means of freeing latent creative ideas, and Zurn participated as well. It was this drug use that contributed to her mental decline and as a result her already fragile psyche further collapsed and she was diagnosed with schizophrenia.

Despite this diagnosis, Zurn continued to be prolific, producing many line drawings and three written works. Her drawings are warbly-lined, uneasy fantasies depicting mythical creatures, tenuous landscapes and ominous versions of herself. These drawings are clearly manifestations of her growing mental agitation, often dealing with themes of isolation, multiple personalities, and despair. There is a playful, child-like quality to them as well, but always with a somber undercurrent.
















Her written works consist of a book of anagrams called Hexentexte and two volumes of prose- Jasmine Man and Sombre Spring- the confessional material in both further evidence of her mental decline.

During a leave from a mental institution, while growing increasingly distraught over her emotional health and the health of Bellmer following a stroke, Zurn jumped out of their apartment window to her death. About five years later, in 1975, following a long illness, Bellmer died and was buried next to Zurn. The gravestone they share bears the lines that Bellmer had written for her funeral wreath years prior- Mon Amour le suivra dans l'Eternite- "My love will follow you into eternity."

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