Gerda Wegener: Feminist Icon and Lili Elbe's Partner

Gerda Wegener (1886–1940) was a Danish illustrator and painter known for feminist art and lesbian themes. She married Einar Wegener, who after sex reassignment surgery became Lili Elbe, the first known transgender female artist. Their story was dramatized in David Ebershoff's book 'The Danish Girl' and the 2015 film. Born in Hammelev, Denmark, Wegener studied at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts, where she met Einar. She worked as an illustrator for Vogue and other fashion magazines. When a model canceled, Einar posed in women's clothing, discovering his female identity as Lili Elbe, who became Wegener's favorite model. In 1912, the couple moved to Paris, where Lili lived openly as a woman. Wegener created sexually explicit images in Art Nouveau and Art Deco styles. In the 1930s, Lili underwent one of the first documented sex reassignment surgeries. The King of Denmark annulled their marriage, but they remained close until Lili's death in 1931 during her fourth surgery. Wegener won first prize in a 1908 competition on the 'feminine ideal' and two gold medals at the 1925 World Fair in Paris. Her work fell out of favor by her death in 1940 but was revived posthumously. In 2016, the Arken Museum of Modern Art in Copenhagen held the largest exhibition of her work to date.