lesbianartandartists:

Leon Bakst, Portrait of Zinaida Gippius, 1906

“Though it portrays one person, this painting brings together a queer trio of creative subjects. Its sitter, Zinaida Gippius, was a symbolist poet and novelist exiled from Russia after the Revolution. In Paris, she became as famous for her androgynous style and rumoured lesbianism as for her writing. The painter of the portrait, Leon Bakst, was best known as the creator of scenic design and costumes for the Ballet Russes, including the exotic, daringly erotic costumes worn by lead dancer Vaslav Nijinksy. Finally, Oscar Wilde, the witty and scandalously homosexual writer, provided the inspiration for Gippius’s cross-dressed attire and dandified pose.”

Richard Meyer, Art & Queer Culture (New York: Phaidon, 2013), 62.