A few months ago, I visited beautiful Basel in Switzerland to see an exhibition at the Kunstmuseum Basel. The First Homosexuals has a provocative title, looking at art from the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
This was a time when the terms homosexual and homosexuality were coined and became popular. Of course, people in that time period were not the first people to experience same-sex desire - but they were the first homosexuals.
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The exhibition makes the point that the history of art is simultaneously a complete archive of the history of sexuality.
The accompanying booklet had 2 pages dedicated to a 'plain language' explanation and around 40 pages for academic and theoretical discussion. Sometimes I wonder (and wish) why the plain language cannot lead the way. All the academic theories in the world cannot fully comprehend the many ways queer lives are lived and people's fluid and varied sexualities.
So instead of getting bogged down in academic art-speak, I've chosen to focus here on the paintings that show early artistic depictions of queer couples.
Henrik and John
This painting depicts Hendrik Andersen (left), then aged 22, with American painter John Briggs Potter, aged 29. It's a very domestic and intimate scene, set in a house in Florence where they both lived with Hendrik's brother Andreas, who painted the painting in 1894.
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| Interior with Hendrik Andersen and John Briggs Potter in Florence, Andreas Andersen, Hendrik Andersen Museum, Rome via Wikimedia Commons |
The Andersen brothers were born in Norway, moving to the United States as children. It's never possible to fully know, but this artwork is often described as the first publicly displayed painting of an unambiguously homosexual couple. Hendrik Andersen later met the author Henry James in 1899, and the two had a long relationship. You can read about this here.
Emilie and Marie
Emilie Mundt and Marie Luplau were an artist couple from Denmark who lived together in a home in Frederiksberg, a district of Copenhagen. This painting by Emilie dates from 1893, and shows Marie with her and Emilie’s daughter Carla as well as Marie’s father in the background. This is easily one of the earliest artistic depictions of a multigenerational queer family.
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| Malerinde og barn i atelieret, Emilie Mundt, Wikimedia Commons |
Emilie and Marie were very involved in fighting for Danish women to have an artistic education, opening their own painting and drawing school for women. You can read more about Emilie and Marie here.
Jacques-Émile and Rafael
This self-portrait is from 1890. It’s by French artist Jacques-Émile Blanche with Spanish artist Rafael de Ocha y Madrazo, who is understood to be his partner. Jacques-Émile Blanche was a portrait painter, largely self-taught. He worked in Paris and London and summered at his family’s country home in Dieppe.
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| Self-Portrait with Raphael de Ochoa, 1890, Jacques-Émile Blanche, The Cleveland Museum of Art |
Louise and Sarah
This painting by French artist Louise Abbéma depicts her with her lover, the renowned actress Sarah Bernhardt. Set during a boat trip in the Bois de Boulogne, this painting was donated to the Comédie-Française, accompanied by a letter stating that it was ‘Painted by Louise Abbéma on the anniversary of their love affair’. The swans in the painting are said to be a representation of their love, as swans mate for life.
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| Sarah Bernhardt and Louise Abbéma on the Lake in the Bois de Bologne, Louise Abbéma, Wikimedia Commons |
The First Homosexuals exhibition was excellent, a real deep exploration of the topic with many beautiful and fascinating paintings.
This is an edition of my ace-museums newsletter, republished here on Blogger.