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Danish artist Lili Ilse Elvenes (1882–1931)—better known as Lili Elbe—is often proclaimed to be the first person to undergo gender-affirmation surgery. Although this is not entirely true, it has nevertheless helped propel a certain amount of interest and publicity in her as an important historical figure. Elbe’s story, published posthumously in the (auto)biography, Man into Woman (1933), has been, to a large extent, the prime point of reference when characterizing the life and identity of Elbe and the relationship between Lili and her wife, portrait painter and illustrator Gerda Wegener (1886 – 1940). However, today most people’s knowledge of Elbe’s today derives from the 2015 film, The Danish Girl (2015), a romanticized narrative that adopts David Ebershoff ’s 2000 novel of the same name—a novel that draws on but fictionalizes Elbe’s story. While the movie does draw our attention towards the numerous portraits that Wegener painted of Elbe, it both ignores Elbe’s own, albeit admittedly short-lived, artistic contributions and Wegener’s remarkably radical queer art practice.

Elbe's paintings, all of which were made pre-transition are more subdued and, in a sense, enjoy a more academic style. For example, An Autumn Day at Bassin de Flore at Versailles (1917) is, as the title suggests, a study of the four season bassins at the Versailles gardens. Elbe's work is more even wields an impressionistic quality at times, as exemplified by the light, bleeding brushes that cover the swan wading in the pond in An Autumn Day and the pointillism-esque character of the bisque-green leaves swaying in the background. This also speaks to how Elbe and Wegener brandished very distinct approaches to painting. However, given that Elbe served as Wegener’s model, we ought also take note of how Elbe’s performing her transgender identity bleeds into Wegener’s portraits. Whether this amounts to co-authorship between Elbe and Wegener is a thorny issue. Nevertheless, at the very least, in Elbe’s case another layer of empowerment is at stake as the act of posing as a woman is a way to achieve recognition and legitimacy as a female subject. Shin Gallery here offer a comprehensive view of both artists’ artistic development and unique styles and subjects. Elbe and Wegener are shown here in their full complexity, rife with nuance. Inseparable and yet singular artist couples, from Ernest Mancoba and Sonja Ferlov Mancoba to Willem and Elaine De Kooning, are abundant in art history. Yet few, if any, offer as many theoretic resources to deconstruct gender and sexuality as Lili Elbe and Gerda Wegener do.