A distinctly queer presence permeates the history of the visual arts — from Michelangelo's David and homoerotic images on ancient Greek vases to Frida Kahlo's self-portraits and the photography of Claude Cahun and Robert Mapplethorpe. The Queer Encyclopedia of the Visual Arts is a comprehensive work showcasing the enormous contribution of gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, and queer artists to painting, drawing, photography, printmaking, sculpture, and architecture.

International in scope, the volume includes overviews of the various periods in art history, from Classical Art to Contemporary Art and from African Art to Erotic and Pornographic Art; discussions of topics ranging from AIDS Activism in the Arts, Censorship in the Arts, and the Arts and Crafts Movement to Pulp Paperbacks and Their Covers; surveys of the representation of various subjects in the visual arts, from Androgyny to Vampires; and biographical entries on significant figures in the history of art, such as Andy Warhol, Keith Haring, El Greco, Leonardo da Vinci, David Hockney, Ruth Bernhard, Rosa Bonheur, Romaine Brooks, Simeon Solomon, and Nahum Zenil. Includes more than 100 illustrations and photographs.