Different codings of homosexuality at the turn of the 20th century: On the left is the painting “Contre-jour” by Marie-Louise-Catherine Breslau from 1888. On the right is the painting “Nachte Fischer und Knaben am Grünen Gestade” by Ludwig von Hofmann from 1900.
The work “Portrait de Maurice Deriaz” by Gustave Courtois from 1907 is shown in the third part, “Bodies in Transition”.
The pencil drawing “Two young girls caressing each other” by Johann Heinrich Füsslich from 1775 can be seen in the first part of the exhibition. This deals with homosexuality in art before it was defined in 1869.
Kunstmuseum Basel presents the exhibition “The First Homosexuals” – Gallery
Different codings of homosexuality at the turn of the 20th century: On the left is the painting “Contre-jour” by Marie-Louise-Catherine Breslau from 1888. On the right is the painting “Nachte Fischer und Knaben am Grünen Gestade” by Ludwig von Hofmann from 1900.
The work “Portrait de Maurice Deriaz” by Gustave Courtois from 1907 is shown in the third part, “Bodies in Transition”.
The pencil drawing “Two young girls caressing each other” by Johann Heinrich Füsslich from 1775 can be seen in the first part of the exhibition. This deals with homosexuality in art before it was defined in 1869.
The Kunstmuseum Basel is opening the exhibition “The First Homosexuals” on Saturday. With around 80 works, it traces how new images of sexuality, gender and identity were formed from the first use of the word “homosexual” in 1869.
The exhibition is divided into six sections in three rooms, which are dedicated to different aspects of homosexuality, but also to more far-reaching forms of sexuality.
The fourth section, for example, shows coding in art. Female homosexuality, for example, was associated with friendship early on. The painting “Contre-jour” (Backlight) by Marie-Louise-Catherine Breslau from 1888 shows two women in an everyday scene. However, it was sometimes misnamed “the girlfriends”, as was reported on Thursday during a tour of the exhibition for the media.
The coding of male homosexuality in the painting “Naked Fishermen and Boys on a Green Shore” by Ludwig von Hofmann from 1900, on the other hand, is based on an art historical motif, as explained. This goes back to the painting “Bathers”, which Paul Cézanne created at the end of the 19th century.
Hope for more acceptance
“It is the museum’s first exhibition to focus on the art and work of the LBTQIA+ community,” said museum director Elena Filipovic. All over the world, people suffer prejudice because of their identity and their love. “If we succeed in bringing a little more knowledge, tolerance and acceptance into the world, great things will already have been achieved,” she said.
According to Jonathan Katz, US art historian and curator of the exhibition, definitions today focus on the European view. This is characterized by the contrast between homo and hetero and has been globalized by colonialism together with a negative attitude. In Japan, for example, homosexuality was “completely normal” before the European influence.
Similarly, the legal and medical standardization that emerged in the 19th century meant that ways of describing different forms of sexuality were lost, said Katz. We are not experiencing a “new trans era” today, as there have always been forms of gender and sexual “dissidence”. Rather, young people in particular are increasingly refusing to identify with conventional definitions.
The exhibition will be shown in the new building of the Kunstmuseum and will run from its launch on Saturday until August 2.