(MENAFN- Swissinfo) The Cabaret Voltaire in Zurich, birthplace of Dada, is dedicating an exhibition to Emma Jung. As early as 1911, the psychoanalyst and artist feared that she would be eclipsed by her famous husband. Over a century later, she is now being recognised. This content was published on October 12, 2025 - 10:30 8 minutes David Eugster

• Deutsch de Emma Jung: Die Frau von C.G. Jung tauchte ins Unbewusste Original Read more: Emma Jung: Die Frau von C.G. Jung tauchte ins Unbewusst
• Français fr Plongée dans l'inconscient d'Emma Jung, épouse de Carl Gustav Jung Read more: Plongée dans l'inconscient d'Emma Jung, épouse de Carl Gustav Jun
• Русский ru Эмма Юнг в ((Кабаре Вольтер)): искусство погружения в бессознательное Read more: Эмма Юнг в ((Кабаре Вольтер)): искусство погружения в бессознательно

2025 marks the 150th anniversary of the birth of Swiss psychoanalyst Carl Gustav Jung (1875-1961). Austrian psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud (1856-1939) had long regarded him as his successor – until their dramatic falling out. Jung thought that Freud's psychology was too fixated on sexuality, and in 1913, he broke away.

The split would probably have happened even without a dispute about psychoanalysis because of Jung's anti-Semitic views and his cosying up to the NazisExternal link . He was keen to secure his place in what he saw as the German-speaking world of the future – in opposition to Freud's psychoanalysis, which he labelled“Jewish”.

In a 1918 essay titled On the Unconscious, Carl Jung wrote,“the Jew [...] is badly at a loss for that quality in man which roots him to the earth and draws new strength from below”. Jung added that this turning away from one's inner nature could be seen elsewhere, resurfacing“in faked, distorted form, for instance as a tango epidemic, as Futurism, Dadaism, and all the other crazes and crudities in which our age abounds”.

The Cabaret VoltaireExternal link , the birthplace of Dada in Zurich, is now inviting visitors to discover the art of Emma Jung (1882-1955).

“I was shocked when I realised that Carl Jung's wife, Emma Jung, was herself a psychoanalyst and did much the same kind of work as her husband – and that I'd never heard of her,” says Salome Hohl, director of the Cabaret Voltaire and curator of the exhibition on Emma Jung and her work. Hohl does not want to lump Emma Jung into the same ideological category as her husband: nothing is known of Emma Jung having had anti-Semitic views.

Emma Jung's“Mädchen mit blauem Kleid” (Girl in blue dress), undated. © 2007 Stiftung der Werke von C.G. Jung, Zürich Jung at Cabaret Voltaire

Although Carl Jung scornfully rejected the avant-garde, there were still some loose connections between Emma and Carl and Dada around 1918. Two Hopi figures owned by the Jungs, for example, inspired the Swiss Dada artist Sophie Taeuber-Arp. The exhibition at Cabaret Voltaire follows these subtle connections, with a focus on Emma Jung's drawings and paintings.

“We have heard a lot about the people in Carl Jung's social and professional circle – even his lovers, but hardly anything about his wife,” Hohl says.

At Cabaret Voltaire, Emma Jung's newly discovered art is paired with works by contemporary artist Rebecca Ackroyd, whose beeswax sculptures shape the exhibition. At first glance, they are reminiscent of blind observers with covered eyes. On closer inspection, they appear far more ordinary.

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