Gerda Wegener

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Gerda Wegener 1904

Gerda Wegener (born March 15, 1886 in Hammelev , † July 28, 1940 in Frederiksberg ) was a Danish illustrator and painter of Art Nouveau and Art Deco .

Life

Portrait of Lili Elbe , around 1928

Gerda Marie Frederikke Gottlieb grew up as the daughter of a country clergyman Huguenot origin in the then politically to the German Reich belonging Nordschleswig . She went to Copenhagen to study at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts . There she met the artist Einar Wegener, who later called himself Lili Elbe and whom she married in 1904. In order to expand her sphere of activity and to be able to live out her lesbian orientation more freely, she moved with her husband to Paris in 1912 , where she worked as a painter and illustrator for magazines such as Vogue , La Vie Parisienne , Fantasio, Le Rire, La Baïonnette and many others . Her success enabled her to exhibit regularly in the Ole Haslund Gallery in Copenhagen . Her career was based on talent and diligence, but not least on the sensation that her unusual marriage caused.

Frontispiece from Les Contes de La Fontaine , Volume I, 1928

Einar Wegener, who was initially considered the larger of the two artists, put his own work on hold in order to support his wife in her endeavors. He posed for Gerda Wegener in women's clothes, called himself Lili Elbe from then on, and became Gerda's preferred model. In 1930 Lili underwent gender reassignment surgery , which was one of the first of its kind to cause a tremendous sensation and made Lili Elbe famous. Gerda Wegener supported her intersex partner to the best of her ability during the transition period. In 1930 their marriage was annulled by the Danish king.

In 1931 Gerda Wegener married the eleven years younger Italian officer, pilot and diplomat Major Fernando Porta, with whom she moved to Marrakech and then to Casablanca . There in Morocco she found out that Lili Elbe had died in the Dresden women's clinic after a uterus transplant by Kurt Warnekros . In 1936 Gerda Wegener divorced Fernando Porta and returned to Copenhagen. She had her last exhibition in 1939, but her style had gone out of style. She died of a heart attack a few months after the occupation of Denmark by the Wehrmacht of the German Reich.

Aftermath

The Second World War put an abrupt end to the luxury era of Art Deco . It was only social trends such as sexual liberation , feminism and the gender debate that stimulated interest, especially in Gerda Wegener's erotic works. Today her work, like that of George Barbier and Erté , fetch high prices at auctions.

reception

David Ebershoff's novel The Danish Girl (original title The Danish Girl ) from 2000 deals with the life story of Lili Elbe and Gerda Wegener (in the book as American painter Greta Waud). The book was an international bestseller and has been translated into a dozen languages.

The novel was used as the basis for the film The Danish Girl , in which Eddie Redmayne played the role of Lili Elbe and Alicia Vikander played the role of Gerda Wegener. During the 2016 Academy Awards , Vikander was named Best Supporting Actress in this role .

Illustrations

Books

literature

Web links

Commons : Gerda Wegener  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Gerda Wegener (Danish, 1885-1940) . In: artnet
personal data
SURNAME Wegener, Gerda
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Gottlieb, Gerda; Wegener-Porta, Gerda; Gottlieb, Gerda Marie Frederikke (maiden name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Danish illustrator and painter of Art Nouveau and Art Deco
DATE OF BIRTH March 15, 1886
PLACE OF BIRTH Hammelev Sogn (Haderslev Municipality)
DATE OF DEATH July 28, 1940
Place of death Frederiksberg , Denmark