Simeon Solomon: Victorian Pre-Raphaelite Painter of Queer Jewish Identity

Simeon Solomon (1840–1905) was a Victorian artist whose work intertwined Jewish heritage and queer desire, challenging the norms of his era. Born in London to a middle-class Jewish family, he entered the Royal Academy at 16 and exhibited there by 19. His early works, such as 'The Mother of Moses' (1860), drew on Old Testament themes and featured Fanny Eaton, a Jamaican-born model, as a central figure. Solomon's art, including 'Sappho and Erinna in a Garden at Mytilene' (1864) and 'The Sleepers and the One Who Watcheth' (1870), explored androgyny and homoeroticism, influenced by the Pre-Raphaelite circle that included Dante Gabriel Rossetti, Edward Burne-Jones, and the poet Algernon Charles Swinburne. In 1873, Solomon was arrested for attempted 'buggery' with a stablehand, a crime that led to his social and professional ruin. He spent time in asylums and was later arrested again in Paris. Abandoned by friends, including Swinburne, he lived in poverty and alcoholism, producing art until his death in 1905. Today, his work is recognized for its courage and subversion. In 2017, Tate Britain included him in 'Queer British Art 1861–1967', and in 2027, the Delaware Art Museum will exhibit 180 of his works.