The first study of how gay and lesbian artists influenced and established a regional cultural identity in the first half of the twentieth century, this groundbreaking publication chronicles and contextualizes pioneering gay and lesbian artists from the pre-Stonewall era. Looking back as far as the 1910s, museum curator David F. Martin has unearthed astonishing works by both lesser-known and internationally famous artists.

Created primarily from original research drawn from the artists’ unpublished archival materials, and produced in conjunction with a previous exhibition at the Cascadia Art Museum, The Lavender Palette consists of three essays as well as individual biographies of thirteen artists. Generously illustrated with artwork and personal photographs, The Lavender Palette sheds light on significant contributions from a marginalized and understudied group. Throughout, Martin aims to amend the formerly pejorative use of the colors lavender and purple in association with homosexuality as signs of weakness and frivolity, and to establish the effect these artists had in defining a regional aesthetic that remains to this day.