Artist: Helen McNicollMedia: Oil on canvas, 81.3 x 99.1cmDate & Location: c. 1913, Private Collection, Thornhill, Ontario Image Source: Art Canada Institute / Institut de l’Art Canadien Significance to Queer Art History Helen McNicoll was an Impressionist painter. She was born in Toronto and started her artistic training in Montreal. In 1902 when she was 23 years old, …
Artist: UnknownMedia: SandstoneDate & Location: 150-200 CE (Kushan period), North India (currently in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, England)Image Source: Victoria and Albert Museum Significance to Queer Art History This statue is of the figure Ardhanarishvara. Ardhanarishvara is one of the many (and most popular) forms of the Hindu god Shiva. The popularity of this particular form …
Artist: Charles RickettsMedia: Watercolour on boardDate & Location: 1924Image Source: Picryl Significance to Queer Art History Charles Ricketts was a British painter, designer, and publisher. He met his partner Charles Shannon at the City and Guilds Technical Art School in south London in 1882 when they were both teenagers. They moved in together in 1888 and lived with …
Artist: Una TroubridgeMedia: BronzeDate & Location: c. 1915-1963Image Source: Queer Britain Significance to Queer Art History This is a statue of Radclyffe Hall by her partner of twenty-nine years, Una Troubridge. They met in 1915 and lived together from 1916 until Hall’s death in 1943. Radcylffe Hall is most well-known for having written A Well of Loneliness, which …
Artist: We’wha (it is likely We’wha’s signature on the handle)Media: Clay and pigmentDate & Location: 1884, made on A:Shiwi (Zuni) territory in what is colonially known as ‘New Mexico.’ Currently at the Smithsonian in their Anthropology Department under Accession Number: 021664.Image Source: Smithsonian, National Museum of Natural History, Anthropology Department, Accession Number: 021664 ❤️Please note: I use both …
Artist: Unknown Media: ButtonDate & Location: 1960s-1982Where can I find this item?: Unknown (will update when found)Source: QueerMusicHeritage.com Significance to Queer Art History: Genderfluidity, trans* identities, and queer love have long, positive histories in Hawaiian culture. A term that is currently being reclaimed by queer, Indigenous communities in Hawaii is māhū. As Carol E. Robertson …
Artist: John ColletMedia: Paper and coloured inks (hand-coloured)Date & Location: London, 1779, currently at the British Museum (not on display)Image Source: Wiki Images (Creative Commons License) Significance to Queer Art History This print is part of the long hirstory of genderfluidity in performance. From Shakespearean plays at The Globe theatre to the stages of Tang Dynasty China and from …
Artist: UnknownMedia: SandstoneDate & Location: This sculpture was made between 900 and 1450 CE, but we do not know a precise date. You can currently find it at the British MuseumImage Source: Image from the British Museum website Significance to Queer Art History This statue would have originally been part of a temple or shrine in ancient Mexico. It …
Artist: Félix González-TorresMedia: Candies in variously coloured wrappers, endless supply, ideal weight of 175 lbDate & Location: 1991Where can I find this item?: Art Institute of Chicago, Contemporary Art, Gallery 293Source: Wikimedia Commons (Creative Commons) Significance to Queer Art History Félix González-Torres (1957-1996) started a series of works in 1990 that all consist of small, …
Artist: UnknownMedia: Painted terracottaDate & Location: Around 500 BC, ItalyWhere can I find this item?: The British MuseumImage Source: Photo by the author (This object was included in the exhibition “Feminine Power: The Divine to the Demonic” at the British Museum, which ran May 19th to September 25th 2022) ♥Trigger warnings for mentions of sexual assault♥ Significance to Queer …
Artist: Kent Monkman (b. 1965)Media: Acrylic paint on canvasDate & Location: 2019, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York Significance to Queer Art History Kent Monkman is a Cree artist who works across the media of painting, photography, performance, installation and film. He is known for his critical interventions into ‘canonical’ European and American art history that highlight colonial …
Artist: Anne Seymour DamerMedia: BronzeDate & Location: c. 1793Image Source: National Portrait Gallery, London (Creative Commons License) ♥ This post was created by Professor Melissa Berry from the University of Victoria, Art History and Visual Studies Department, who volunteered to be a guest author for Queer Art History this month! ♥ Significance to Queer Art History British-born Anne …