156 174
282
●
GERDA WEGENER.
“Das Bild eine Mädchen: Brigette Bergman.” Watercolor on paper. 749x552 mm;
29
1
/
2
x21
3
/
4
inches, image. Signed in image, lower left. Framed, with window on verso
exposingWegener’s penciled title. Circa 1920.
[6,000/9,000]
A beautiful, large-scale Art Deco portrait of a European society lady in the style ofWegener’s fashion
illustrations for Journal des Dames and other couture magazines.
The Danish illustrator and painter GerdaWegener moved to Paris in 1912 and quickly became known
for the superb artistry of her fashion and lifestyle illustrations and advertisements (see lots 19 and 20) in
Vogue, LaVie Parisienne, Fantasion, La Guirlande, and many other Parisian magazines. Her style was
marked by a playful sensuality though her book illustrations and fine art displayed more highly erotic,
mainly Sapphic themes.Her personal life received scrutiny when her husband, Einer, who came out as a
transsexual named Lili Elbe, underwent the first known sex reassignment surgery in 1930.Wegener's
work remains among the best of the Art Deco period, especially in light of her success as a female artist
amid her more famous male contemporaries such as Barbier, Brunelleschi, Lepape, and Martin.
[
SEE ALSO LOTS
19
AND
20]