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Gerda Wegener 1886 – 1940 Danish
On the banks of the Loire 1926
Oil on canvas
Gerda Wegener (March 15, 1886 in Hammelev – July 28, 1940 in Frederiksberg) was a Danish illustrator and painter of Art Nouveau and Art Deco.
Gerda Marie Frederikke Gottlieb[1] grew up as the daughter of a country clergyman of Huguenot origin in North Schleswig, which at that time belonged politically to the German Reich. She went to Copenhagen to study at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts. There she met the artist Lili Elbe, then known as Einar Wegener, whom she married in 1904. In order to expand her sphere of activity and to live out her bis*xual orientation more freely, she moved to Paris with Lili Elbe in 1912, where she worked as a painter and illustrator for magazines such as Vogue, La Vie Parisienne, Fantasio, Le Rire, La Baïonnette and many others . Her success allowed her to exhibit regularly in Copenhagen at Galerie Ole Haslund. Her career was based on talent and diligence, but not least on the attention that her unusual marriage caused.
Frontispiece to Les Contes de La Fontaine, Volume I, 1928
Lili Elbe, who was initially thought to be the larger of the two artists, put her own work on hold to support her efforts. She posed for Gerda Wegener in women's clothing, called herself Lili Elbe from then on and became Gerda's favorite model. In 1930, Lili underwent a s*x reassignment operation, which, as one of the first of its kind, caused a sensation and made Lili Elbe famous. Gerda Wegener supported her inters*xual partner to the best of her ability during the transition period. In 1930 their marriage was annulled by the Danish king.
In 1931, Gerda Wegener married Major Fernando Porta, an Italian officer, pilot and diplomat who was eleven years her junior, with whom she moved to Marrakesh and then to Casablanca. There in Morocco she learned that Lili Elbe had died in the Dresden women's clinic after a uterus transplant by Kurt Warnekros. In 1936 Gerda Wegener divorced Fernando Porta and returned to Copenhagen. In 1939 she had her last exhibition, but her style had gone out of fashion. She died of a heart attack a few months after Denmark was occupied by the Wehrmacht of the German Reich.
The Second World War abruptly ended the luxury era of Art Deco. It was only social trends such as s*xual liberation, feminism and gender debates that stimulated interest, especially in Gerda Wegener's erotic works. Today her works, such as those by George Barbier and Erté, fetch high prices at auction.

Detail from the ceramic art of Japanese born, British HITOMI HOSONO (b.1978) known for her detailed vessels referencing nature and botanical specimens.

Her works have won multi- awards and can be found in the collections of the British Museum and the Indianapolis Museum of Art.

According to her website, these ceramic sculptures take more than one month to create the mold, three weeks to attach the foliage and up to five weeks to let it dry.

"Silent Rhapsody III", Acrylic on Panel, 20 x 20 cm, n.d. - Lorena Kloosterboer, Dutch-Argentine, born 1962
Lorena Kloosterboer is an artist who paints using trompe-l'œil and photorealistic styles, often creating the illusion of three-dimensional objects on a two-dimensional surface. She is best known for her hyperrealist still life paintings of idiosyncratic compositions made of glass and porcelain pieces. Her paintings have been exhibited and awarded in several countries worldwide. As a sculptor Kloosterboer has created a number of bronze pieces which are displayed in public in the city of Wassenaar. Also, the artist has published several books on painting techniques.
Kloosterboer studied fine arts at the Instituto de Bellas Artes Beato Angélico in Buenos Aires, Argentina. She later attended art classes and workshops for several years at Scottsdale Artist's School in Scottsdale, Arizona. Kloosterboer painting subjects include a wide variety of objects like colorful candies, marbles, shells, silverware, glass and ceramics.