GERDA WEGENER: ON EROTICSM AND ANTI-WAR SENTIMENT

The Hollywood film the Danish Girl tells the story of the painter Einar Wegener, who was among the first people in the world to have gender-affirming surgery in 1930, subsequently becoming Lili Elbe. But her wife, Gerda Wegener, had a fascinating life and career of her own. Through her work, Gerda challenged traditional depictions of women in art - typically seen through the male gaze - and painted strong, beautiful women with admiration and identification - as conscious subjects rather than as passive objects. However, with her playful nudes, she also explored the more risqué theme of eroticism and, in particular - as with Two women in a landscape with a peacock and Je ne trompe pas mes amants - female (and particularly, lesbian) sexual pleasure.

Her luscious and immaculately rendered works included paintings, illustrations and advertisements featuring modern women, anti-German satire - as demonstrated by La Guerre est morte, presented here - and morale-boosting depictions of French troops. However, her most famous - and controversial - works were her erotic illustrations of uninhibited lesbian pleasure and sexual encounters between ambiguously gendered individuals. The combination of her refined skill and beguiling subject-matter put her on the map of the fashion industry with her works suddenly making their way into popular magazines like Vogue and La Vie Parisienne, and the elite Journal des Dames et des Modes, a realm that was normally reserved for the likes of fine artists and intellectuals.

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