Harriet Goodhue Hosmer, Clasped Hands of Robert Browning and Elizabeth Barrett Browning, model 1853, bronze, Gift in honor of Margaret and Raymond Horowitz, 2005.41.1

LGBTQ+ Artists

Explore artists and artworks representing the queer community. 

From Andy Warhol to Zanele Muholi, discover the LGBTQ+ pioneers in our collection who have left their mark on art history.

Selected works

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  • A dark-skinned girl stands on a dock holding a fish wider than her hips down in front of her with both hands, one ankle crossed over the other in this black and white photograph. Her body faces us, but she looks up and off to our right. A dark cloth covers her hair and shoulders over a knee-length dress. She wears loafer-style shoes. She stands in front of an upturned rowboat with a severed swordfish head laid on the flat stern, to our right. The long sword-like upper lip angles into the lower right corner of the photograph, and the fish’s large eye is a gaping hole. Buildings on a spit of land that comes about halfway up the composition enclose the body of water in the distance. The contrast of the girl’s dark head covering against the white sky creates an optical effect, making the cloth seem to glow.
  • A dark-skinned girl stands on a dock holding a fish wider than her hips down in front of her with both hands, one ankle crossed over the other in this black and white photograph. Her body faces us, but she looks up and off to our right. A dark cloth covers her hair and shoulders over a knee-length dress. She wears loafer-style shoes. She stands in front of an upturned rowboat with a severed swordfish head laid on the flat stern, to our right. The long sword-like upper lip angles into the lower right corner of the photograph, and the fish’s large eye is a gaping hole. Buildings on a spit of land that comes about halfway up the composition enclose the body of water in the distance. The contrast of the girl’s dark head covering against the white sky creates an optical effect, making the cloth seem to glow.
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Stories

Video:  Take Felix Gonzalez-Torres's “Untitled” With You

Filmed over the course of a month, watch visitors interact with Felix Gonzalez-Torres's Untitled at the National Gallery of Art.

Article:  Queer Artists Grete Stern and Ellen Auerbach: ringl + pit

How the duo’s book documents their artistic collaboration and romantic relationship through beautiful, witty, and sometimes irreverent mixed media art.

Article:  15 LGBTQ+ Artists to Know

Discover the lives of 15 LGBTQ+ artists and their art, much of which you can see at the National Gallery.

Article:  Who Is Ellsworth Kelly? 10 Things to Know

The colorful life of one of the nation’s most important postwar artists.

Article:  A Colorful Day at the National Gallery with “Diego Downtown”

The social media influencer shares his tips for a perfect (and romantic) day exploring the museum.

Article:  Your Tour of LGBTQ+ Artists at the National Gallery

See these 10 works by queer artists during your next visit.

Article:  A Portrait of Gay and Lesbian America 30 Years On

Photographer Nancy Andrews reflects on her project searching for, and bringing visibility to, her community.

Video:  Inside the Corcoran’s Incredible Art Collection

From 1869 to 2014, the Corcoran Gallery of Art was one of the oldest art museums in the United States, reflecting the country’s move from the ashes of the Civil War into the 21st century.

Educator Resources

This nearly square black and white photograph shows the head and shoulders of a person in front of a plain wall. Wearing a dark V-necked shirt, the person has an oval-shaped face and dark hair rolled in curlers. Finely plucked dark eyebrows frame large, luminous dark eyes, and the full lips are slightly open. A lit cigarette is held aloft in the person’s long-nailed left hand, on our right. Light comes from the left and deepens into shadow across the right half of the photograph.

Educational Resource:  Expressing the Individual

Studying artists and their works invites explorations of identity and the human condition. What drives artists to create? What choices do artists make, and why? Sometimes artists directly engage with questions of identity in their artwork: Who am I? How do I relate to others, and how do they relate to me?