A bimonthly magazine of history, culture, and politics.

<em>Fig. 5: Frances Benjamin Johnston</em>. Self-Portrait dressed as a man with false mustache, posed with a bicycle, <em>c. 1890. Library of Congress.</em>

Fig5_Frances Benjamin Johnston_c1890

By RICHARD SCHNEIDER on April 15, 2025

RICHARD SCHNEIDER

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Previous ArticleThe First Lesbian Image-Makers

May-June 2025
Features From Current Issue

Art

‘It will be seen as a political exhibition.’

An interview with Jonathan D. Katz, the curator of The First Homosexuals: The Birth of a New Identity, 1869–1939 – an exhibit at Chicago’s Wrightwood 659 museum.

Essays

In the Beginning Was the Word

Between 1864 and late 1866, Karl Maria Kertbeny and Karl Heinrich Ulrichs had a sustained correspondence, which has mostly not survived. It is likely that they used the opportunity to discuss sexuality and activism.

Essays

The First Lesbian Image-Makers

By Tirza True Latimer: Both Louise Abbéma and Sarah Bernhardt were keenly aware of the camera’s potential to commemorate liaisons, to construct artistic personas, to enhance careers, and to challenge social norms. Bernhardt had famously posed for the photographer Achille Mélandri in an immaculate, man-tailored suit beside the pedestal where she was working on Abbéma’s bust.

Art

Amrita Sher-Gil’s Crossing Worlds

AMRITA SHER-GIL’S striking beauty and moody self-portraits have linked her to Frida Kahlo in the popular imagination. Both are examples of flamboyant painters who were fearlessly bisexual and exploited the medium of self-portraiture to tell the story of their turbulent lives in the male-dominated art world of the prewar years.
Blog
1. May 21, 2025 The State of LGBTQ Rights
2. May 9, 2025 Christopher Isherwood at Home and Abroad
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