The Historical lesbianism series include: some of the women who were famous for loving other women throughout time and information on lesbian topics in literature, art, music, sport, film and television.
Also see Historical Lesbianism - Part 1: The early years
and Historical Lesbianism - Part 2: Literature and music (1800s to 1900s)
Part 3: Art - Paintings and drawings depicting lesbianism and or lesbian topics (1500s to 1900s)
1. Some of the earlier works to look out for consist of:
- Two Nymphs in a Landscape by Palma il Vecchio ( 1511)
- Jupiter and Callisto by Peter Paul Rubens (1613)
- Too late by William Lindsay Windus (1858)
- The Turkish Bath by Jeanne Auguste Dominique Ingres (1862)
- The Bower Meadow by Dante Gabriel Rossetti (1871 to 1872)
- Marble Hearts by Hans Makart Circa (1880)
- Sirens by Charles Edouard Boutibonne (1883)
2. Work of lesbian interest under the title ‘Sleep’:
- Le Sommeil / Sleep by Gustave Courbet (1866)
The oil on canvas painting of two naked women lying in each other’s arms became the subject of a police report when it was exhibited by a picture dealer in 1872.
- Sleep by Georges Callot (1895)
- Sleep by Ida Teichmann (1905)
3. Romaine Brooks (1874 – 1970)
She is best known for her images of women in androgynous or masculine dress, including her self-portrait of 1923 which is her most widely reproduced work. Writer, Natalie Barney was her partner for more than 50 years. Barney was non-monogamous and Brooks had a few affairs of her own as well. She was the subject of literary writers - Radclyffe Hall’s The Forge (1924), Compton Mackenzie’s Extraordinary Women (1928) and Djuna Barnes’s Ladies Almanack (1928) of all of whom depicted her as part of lesbian social circles in Paris and Capri. The revival of figurative painting since the 1982s and new interest in exploration of gender and sexuality through art have led to a reassessment of her work, and she is now seen as a precursor of present day artists whose works depict cross-dressing and transgender themes. Critics have described her portraits of the 1920s as a “sly celebration of gender-bending as a king of heroic act” and as creating “the first visible Sapphic stars in the history of modernism.” Her portraits starting with ‘The Cross of France’ have been interpreted as creating new images of strong women – the subjects are portray as powerful, self-confident, and fearless.
- Renata Borgatti at the Piano (1920)
- Una, Lady Troubridge (1924)
4. Marie Laurencin (1883 -1956)
She was a French painter and printmaker known for her delicate portraits of elegant, vaguely melancholic women. Gertrude Stein was one of the first buyers of her work. She was not a lesbian herself, but had important connections to the literary salon of the famed lesbian writer Natalie Clifford Barney. She explored themes of femininity and feminine modes of representation until her death.
- La Barque / The Boat (1926)
- La Baiser / The Kiss (1927)
- Deux amies / Two Friends ( 1927)
- La Danse á la campagne / The Country Dance (1913)
5. Victory of Faith by St. George Hare (1890 -1891)
The painting presents two young girls – one white one black - awaiting martyrdom in an ante-room of the arena. They are to be thrown to the Lions the next day. They spend their last night on earth, asleep and naked, with their arms tightly thrown around each other’s shoulders. The painting addresses victory over issues like: racial prejudice, death, feminine frailties, love between women or forbidden love.
6. Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec (1892-1894)
This French painter was known for his impressionist images of the Parisian night scenes. He became acquainted with lesbian love by watching women prostitutes and finding that some of these women often turned to each other for love. ‘Lesbian love’ inspired him. And of two women sleeping entwined on a bed, he once said: “This is superior to everything. Nothing can compare to something so simple.”
- The Two Girlfriends (1894-1895)
- Devotion: the Two Girlfriends
- Two Girls in Bed
- In bed (1892 -1893)
- At the Moulin Rouge: Two Women Waltzing (1892)
- The Kiss (1892-1893)
- Les Deux Amies (1894)
7. Gluck (1895 – 1978)
She was a British lesbian painter, born as Hannah Gluckstein. She lived in Sussex, with her last lover, Edith Shackleton Heald until her death.
- Medallion (1937)
This dual portrait of her and her lover, Nesta Obermer, was inspired by a night in 1936 when they attended a production of Mozart’s ‘Don Giovanni’ and is one of her best-known work. Her biographer said, “They sat in the third row and she felt the intensity of the music fused them into one person and matched their love.” Gluck called it her marriage to Nesta. It was later used as the cover of a Virago Press edition of ‘The Well of Loneliness.’
- Rage, Rage against the Dying of the Light (1979-1973)
Her last major work was this painting of a decomposing fish head on the beach. The title was taken from the Dylan Thomas poem about his dying father. She knew that she was painting death, the loss of love, and loss of years that had been wasted.
8. Tamara de Lempicka (1898 – 1980)
She was a Polish Art Deco painter and “the first woman artist to be a glamour star.” She was well known for her libido, was bisexual, and had affairs with both women and men. In the 1920s she became closely associated with lesbian and bisexual women in writing and artistic circles. She also became involved with Suzy Solidor who was a nightclub singer who she painted. She later became ‘the baroness with a brush’ and a favourite artist of Hollywood stars. Madonna is a huge fan and collector of her work and used her art pieces in some of her music videos.
- Women bathing
This group painting is the Left Bank lesbian version of Ingres’s ‘The Turkish Bath.
- Mytro, Two Women on a Couch (1929)
One of her most flamboyant lesbian paintings.
9. Gustav Klimt
- Water snakes 1 / Friends 1 (1904 – 1907)
‘They are clearly not serpents, sprites or nymphs, but a half-naked lesbian couple writhing in orgasmic ecstasy.’
- Water snakes II / Friends II
The narcissistic world of lesbians in the water currents represents Klimt’s nightmare of a Universe determined exclusively by women.
- Women Friends / Girl Friends (1913)
Pencil drawing depicting two lesbian friends was one of many works destroyed by retreating German troops in 1945.
10. Other paintings of interest:
- In Summertime by Eliseu Visconti (1891)
- Last Flowers by Louis Ridel (1900)
- Nest of Sirens by Adolphe La-Lyre (1906)
- The Echo by Jean-Francois Auburtin (1911)
- Just a Couple of Girls by Harry Wilson Watrous (1915)
Sources: Wikipedia
Visit: www.sappho.com to see some of the art pieces.
Si-lest’ © 2009
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