On this day… was born Gerda Wegener

On March 15, 1886 was born the Danish artist Gerda Wegener.

Her artwork was inspired by fashion, she worked as illustrator for some famous fashion magazines as Vogue and La vie Parisienne. She was a well-known artist in Paris but she was less known in Denmark where many people found her work controversial.

She met the artist Einar Wegener at art school. They married and in 1912 they set in Paris, both were immersed in the bohemian lifestyle of the time, there they met many artists and dancers.

Einer helped Gerda in hers artistics endeavours by posing for her wearing women’s clothes in the absence of models. Then he adopted the persona of “Lili Elbe” and became Gerda’s favourite model.

Their story became very popular in the last years because of the film The Danish girl that was released in 2015, with the actress Alicia Vikander as Gerda Wegener and Eddie Redmayne as Einar/Lili. The film is based on the fictional novel of the same name by David Ebershoff.