They Will Remember Us

A queer and intellectually uncompromising reimagining of the history of art

In They Will Remember Us, art historian and cultural communicator Clara González Freyre de Andrade presents a vibrant and necessary re-reading of art history through a queer lens.

For centuries, art has been presented as universal while quietly excluding those who did not conform to dominant norms. This book challenges that narrative, revealing how LGBTQ+ creators and perspectives have shaped artistic production from its earliest forms to the present day.

Structured around the colours of the rainbow flag, each chapter unfolds like a cultural chronicle, exploring figures such as Toulouse-Lautrec, Rubens, Hilma af Klint and Natalie Clifford Barney. Through painting, sculpture, photography and visual culture more broadly, González Freyre de Andrade examines how art has intersected with sexuality, dissidence, spirituality, health, race and pride, often in ways erased or softened by traditional histories.

Blending scholarship with accessible storytelling, They Will Remember Us is both a reclamation and an invitation: to look again, to question inherited narratives, and to recognise the creative power of those who worked — and loved — beyond the margins.