Big names like Frida Kahlo and Andy Warhol are not only good artists but are also known as great inspirations for queer people in the art world. Whether being gay as an artist can be seen as an advantage has to be looked at in the context of the 21st century.
The past decades have been characterized by the shattering of various societal norms. Such as the Human Rights Movement (1970s), as well as putting minorities on a pedestal. This has been different at times.
Being Gay As A Renaissance Superstar
In an era when social and Christian conventions dictated what frameworks you had to live within, coming out openly about your orientation was out of the question. In most cases, therefore, it is only from surviving letters and stories that one can tell whether an artist has a different orientation.
There are therefore rumors about, for instance, famous painters like Michelangelo and Da Vinci who probably had a non-heterosexual orientation. Michelangelo wrote loving letters to male recipients, and Da Vinci is even said to have had relations with one of his students.
Although we don’t know for sure, it wouldn’t be a crazy thought that they were indeed struggling with their orientation in a fundamentalist era that was very judgmental about it. It took a real social reset that turned everything upside down for this to change.
Being Gay In An The 20th Century
Even in the past century, being gay was seen as ‘inferior and licentious’ in almost all Western countries, partly because of the Christian standard of living. In the early 20th century, an artist like Ernst Ludwig Kirchner—not openly gay—was very productive in his artistic work.
Not much later, during World War II, all his works were removed from public spaces in no time because the Nazis considered his work “entartet” (degenerate). This was clearly not the best time for “non-Aryan” art, but it shows that tolerance for gay artists has only very recently emerged.
3 Gay Artists That Faced Struggles and Persecution
Lord Alfred Bruce Douglas
1. Oscar Wilde (Poet, Ireland, 1854–1900): famous poet Oscar Wilde—openly gay and in a relationship—was sentenced to a two-year jail term for ‘indecent behavior’. After his release, he lived in poverty, and his career was completely destroyed.
2. Benjamin Britten (composer, England, 1913–1976) was not openly gay but had a secret relationship with his tenor, Peter Pears. Homosexuality was punishable in Great Britain at the time and would probably have had major consequences for Benjamin’s career had he come out of the closet.
3. Freddy Mercury (Lead singer, England, 1946–1991): the Queen singer wrote a letter at the end of his life about his sexual orientation, after which he died of AIDS. Because being gay was still considered taboo in Britain, he kept this a secret in private circles for a long time.
The Slow Growing Tolerance For Gay Artist
There are known lists of painters and musicians who may be gay but never actually came out for it: Tchaikovsky, Jean-Michel Basquiat, and Grant Wood, to name a few. In the light of the artists who did, this was not surprising either.
As a woman in the 18th century, it was already difficult to say that you wanted to have an art career at all, let alone have a different sexual orientation.
This slowly started to change around halfway through the 19th century. Societal norms became slightly freer but were often not tolerated by the masses. Female artists like Hilma Af Klint finally gained recognition, and more and more artists came out of the closet anyway.
In 1791, in France, the anti-sodomy law was decriminalized in the Penal Code, which was a fledgling first step towards considering people of other sexual orientations on an equal footing. Other countries that followed were Belgium (1795), the Netherlands (1811), and Luxembourg in 1794.
The First Gay Artists With Success
It was only around the late 1960s—the same period as the human rights and sexual revolutions—that, not only in the art world but everywhere, people came out for who they were. Even during the same period, this was not tolerated outside the art world. Abstract art was then just out of its infancy, and Western society had to slowly break free from all conservative standards.
Being in a scene detached from the societal goings-on as an artist makes the choice to incorporate queer subjects into art all the easier. The celebrated and famous painter and director Andy Warhol was openly gay and made this explicit in his art. His film ‘My Hustler‘ tells a story about a young prostitute who hangs out with a wealthy gay man.
The no less famous Keith Haring, who sadly died of AIDS, had a large proportion of his art dedicated to his personal struggles and queer related subjects.
Reflecting On The AIDS Pandemic As An Artist
Artists like Keith Haring and Freddy Mercury sadly died from the effects of HIV, but they left behind a legend status that continues to inspire new generations. Because the AIDS pandemic was such a turbulent time of loss and uncertainty, it has left its footprints in the art world too.
There was a lot more concern for persons of different orientations throughout the AIDS time because it affected not just the deceased but also their relatives. This has been a wonderful development in spite of the AIDS pandemic’s tragedy. A great lot of acceptability has been somewhat secured by the taboo being largely broken.
Are Gay Artists More Creative?
The reason there may be a possible link between a gay orientation and creative talent is because the creative sector is teeming with them. Unlike heterosexuals, queer people are more likely to follow a creative life path. In fact, to really know whether a different orientation also means more creativity, scientific research has been done.
For instance, it has been shown that women are more likely to engage in artistic activities than men. Since gay men are more likely to have feminine character traits, this may be linked to greater creativity.
Of course, it is a prejudice to say that gay men in general have more feminine traits. It is therefore difficult to say whether a gay orientation also means more interest in artistic activities.
As a gay artist, you are seen as eccentric, and that is appreciated in the art world and beyond. Creativity does not have much to do with one’s orientation.
Final Toughts: Celebrating Artists of All Backgrounds
Fortunately, we are increasingly moving towards a time where sexual orientation no longer plays a role and is no longer negatively characterized. Although the extraversion of the lgbtq+ community has come to take on an artistic mantle of its own, it can also be a great way to stand out.
It is therefore good to realize that there were times when you were condemned as an artist and as an individual just for your orientation.
“Because an orientation is so intertwined with one’s personhood and expression, disdaining it is destructive to one’s creative growth.”
