LGBT Artwork

Harry Wilson Watrous, Just a Couple of Girls, 1915

Harry Wilson Watrous, a New York painter from the turn of the century, painted a number of simple, clean genre paintings early in his career. Around 1905, he began to lose his eyesight, and turned almost exclusively to painting women: seductive women, modern women, and independent women. He created a very smooth, polished painting surface, seeking a classical simplicity, and often included symbolic elements like insects and flowers. Most of his women are dressed in dark colors and facing in profile, accentuating their silhouettes against his light backgrounds.

His works, which have mostly been ignored since his death, are not well documented. I could find very little information about Just a Couple of Girls, except that most sources seemed to agree that the two women are lesbians. The pastel background, a muted riot of fish, plants, and water, possibly takes some inspiration from Japanese designs.  The two of them share an intimate, private moment together, one woman resting her head on the other's lap, and neither one acknowledges the viewer. Other portraits from Watrous depict seductive, attractive women, clearly under the gaze of an unseen man, but these two ladies exist only for each other.