How queerness came to be synonymous with the arts is really a story of modernism itself—one rife with private codes and intimate patronage. From at least Oscar Wilde on, queerness and aestheticism have been linked in the public imagination. ⁠ ⁠ “The First Homosexuals: Global Depictions of a New Identity, 1869–1930,” an exhibition at Wrightwood 659 in Chicago, aims to examine how the word “homosexual,” since its coining in 1869 and with its attendant identity, filtered into and influenced visual art throughout the following decades. ⁠ ⁠ Jeremy Lybarger reviews the exhibition, writing that the eclectic selections “allude to deeper cultural currents” but that, “ultimately, the exhibition has the tone of a sociology textbook: serious, pedantic, often more stately than intoxicating.” ⁠ ⁠ The show is on view through December 17.⁠ ⁠ Check the 🔗 link in our bio to review the full review. ⁠ ⁠ 🖼️: Duncan Grant: "Bathers at the Pond," 1920–21, oil on canvas, 19 by 35 inches; in “The First Homosexuals” at Wrightwood 659.⁠ Credit: Courtesy Alphawood Exhibitions LLC, Chicago⁠ ⁠ [Image Description: A horizontal painting in a pointilist style depicts several men sitting or reclining on the grass, nude or in bathing shorts.]