Gertrude Stein and Alice B. Toklas

In 1908, Gertrude Stein and Alice B. Toklas committed themselves to a lifelong partnership that was a marriage in all but law. This double portrait hints at the traditional heterosexual gender roles that characterized their relationship. Stein writes at her desk while Toklas does needlepoint. Francis Cyril Rose, an English painter and one of their young protégés, made this nostalgic image while separated from the couple during World War II.

Despite the double jeopardy they faced as Jews and
lesbians, Stein and Toklas spent the war years in France. They were reportedly protected by a high-placed friend in the Nazi-controlled Vichy government. Stein died soon after the war ended, and her family seized her valuable collection. Toklas lived in solitude and poverty for another twenty years. When buriedat Père Lachaise cemetery in Paris, she was finally reunited with Stein. A headstone designed by Rose marks their grave.