Gerda Wegener

Gerda Wegener (née Gottlieb, 1886-1940) was an artist who found considerable success in the 1920s for her sensuous, exuberant paintings and illustrations. As a teenager she abandoned her conservative upbringing in rural Denmark in favour of a more a bohemian lifestyle in Copenhagen, where she first met her long-term muse Lili Elbe. Gerda married Elbe, born Einar Wegener, in 1904, and she features in many of Gerda’s celebrated depictions of languid contemporary elegance. Gerda had her most successful artistic period in 1920s Paris as an avant-garde painter and illustrator for Vogue and La Vie Parisienne, and was also known for erotic scenes that boldly celebrated female pleasure. She was recently depicted by Alicia Vikander in the 2015 film The Danish Girl, opposite Eddie Redmayne as Lili Elbe.