Homosexual Heritage in Art History

gaynight

How important a role have homosexuals played in the history of art? Quite a bit. This article is meant to be a celebration of gay heritage.
Mary RaymeSep 13, 2010
Andy Warhol, Henry Geldzahler and David Hockney
Andy Warhol, Henry Geldzahler and David Hockney (? Zeldman.com)
Since the time of Leonardo Da Vinci and Michelangelo, gay people in art history have been shaping our culture in the arts. Gay people have had some influence over all industries but perhaps it is in the business of art that gay heritage is most prominent.
Are There More Gays in Art?

While it is a stereotype that there are more gay people working in the arts industries statistically we know that gays exist in all industries. Perhaps what is closer to the truth is that gays are more tolerated in the creative workplace than in other professional circles.

Gay Musicians

So, for example, we know of homosexual musicians and composers such as Elton John, Adam Lambert, Clay Aiken, Janis Ian, Freddy Mercury, The Indigo Girls, Liberace, Little Richard, Johnny Mathis, kd lang, Ricky Martin, Boy George, Bob Mould, Pete Townsend, Samuel Barber, Aaron Copland, John Cage, Benjamin Britten, Melissa Etheridge, Stephen Sondheim, George Gershwin, Tracy Chapman, and George Michael.

Gay Writers

Gay writers and poets include the likes of Walt Whitman, Oscar Wilde, Gertrude Stein, Allan Ginsberg, W. H Auden, Edward Albee, James Baldwin, Augusten Burroughs, Christopher Isherwood, Armistead Maupin, David Sedaris, Noel Coward, Bret Easton Ellis, E. M. Forster, Patricia Highsmith, Federico Garcia Lorca, Jean Genet, Christopher Isherwood, Yukio Mishima, Chuck Palahniuk, Marcel Proust, Frank O’Hara, and Tennessee Williams.

Gay Actors

Homosexuals in acting include Robert Reed, David Hyde Pierce, Rock Hudson, Sir John Gielgud, Harvey Fierstein, George Takei, Roddy McDowall, Charles Nelson Reilly, Anthony Perkins, Montgomery Clift, Meredith Baxter, Neil Patrick Harris, Tab Hunter, Nathan Lane, and Ellen DeGeneres. This list doesn’t include gay directors or other homosexual creative workers in the movie making and theater world.

Gay Visual Artists

Gay visual artists include Francis Bacon, Jasper Johns, Robert Rauschenberg, Keith Haring, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Andy Warhol, David Hockney, Paul Cadmus, Charles Demuth, Marsden Hartley, Robert Mapplethorpe, Duane Michals, Maurice Sendak, Herb Ritts, Gilbert and George, and Chip Kidd.

Gay Curators et al.

Gay curators, gallery owners, patrons, art historians, art collectors, and critics are also influential in the art industry and includes such notables as Anthony Blunt, Johann Joachim Winckelmann, Henry Geldzahler, George Melly, Sam Wagstaff, and J.K. Huysmans. Then there are all of the closeted homosexuals and bisexuals who have contributed to art history in incalculable ways and numbers.

Side note: We really don’t hear too much about gay accountants, lawyers, engineers, generals, or corporate CEOs in the popular media, but statistically they are out there. There is a National Organization of Gay and Lesbian Scientists and Technical Professionals formed to dispel homophobia in the laboratory. The University of Michigan has a Student Alliance of Gay Engineers (SAGE) formed in 2008. There are also sites on the internet where you can find a gay certified public accountant, and one can also search for gay lawyers.