Throughout history, love has been one of the themes often portrayed by painters. After all, what could be more romantic than trying to capture such a delicate feeling on screen? The P55 has created a list of the most beautiful and evocative portraits of love from artists who have expressed in new ways the power and mystery of desire, commitment and love.
Gustav Klimt's Kiss, 1908
The canvas was painted between 1907 and 1908, belonging to the "golden phase" of Gustav Klimt . In the center a couple can be seen sharing a moment of complicity and passion. The figures are intensely adorned with delicate flakes of gold, silver and platinum and an abundance of geometric shapes. The intensity of the colors gives a sense of volume to the outline of the bodies.
Cupid and Psyche by Antonio Canova
Italian neoclassical artist Antonio Canova's sculpture, Cupid and Psyche, depicts Greek myth. Aphrodite/Venus, goddess of love and beauty, is jealous of the beauty of mortal Psyche. The goddess, wanting revenge, asks her son Cupid to stick one of his arrows in a disgusting mortal, so that he falls in love with Psyche. However, Cupid ends up sticking to himself and falls in love with Psyche. In the sculpture, in a very neoclassical format, Psyche in a deep sleep is shown, after having opened a bottle that she had promised not to open. Cupid revives his beloved and ends up asking Zeus/Jupiter to transform her into an immortal, which is granted. This story is an allusion to the transcendence of the soul (psyche) and the conquest of immortality, after earthly life and the encounter of the human soul with heavenly love.
The Kiss of Toulouse-Lautrec
Toulouse-Lautrec was fascinated by Paris' nightlife, having painted scenes of everyday life in brothels during the 1890s. After being commissioned to produce paintings for a brothel salon on the rue d'Ambroise, the painter spent a great deal of time observing the brothel, its residents and visitors, while they worked and rested. From these contemplations he created sixteen portraits that demonstrate an attentive and intimate observation of compassion for the subjects, without any sense of sensationalism or voyeurism.
“ O Beijo ” portrays a moment of intimacy between two prostitutes who kiss on the bed of a brothel room. In addition to canvas paintings, Toulouse-Lautrec also produced posters for nightclubs, whose design innovation began to define what would later come to be known as Art Nouveau.
Kiss II and Kiss V by Roy Lichtenstein
This is one of the most popular love portraits by American artist Roy Lichtenstein . The work, inspired by comic books, portrays the couple's reunion or farewell through the facial expression of the female character who is crying intensely. Thus, it manages to convey to the spectator the intense passion felt between these two figures.
Magritte's Lovers , 1928
The figures kiss with a fabric barrier, making it impossible to see their features. This is a feature present in several of the artist's works, being connected to a childhood memory about the suicide of Magritte's mother. This is a provocative painting with several possible interpretations, which gives viewers a feeling of frustration. It thus reveals the true nature of lovers to have the inability to demonstrate their true nature to even the most intimate passions.
Dance on the Field of Renoir, 1883
The present work of art is part of a series of three paintings, made in 1883. These represent Renoir's transition period, in which the painter stopped representing the daily life of Paris and began to be more interested in individual compositions, with figures in the foreground and without much concern for the representation of the background. In Dança no Campo , Renoir represents his friend, the painter Paul Lhote, dancing with Aline Charigot, Renoir's future wife. There are some objects surrounding the characters as in the bottom right, a hat on the ground and a couple of faces. Despite the radiant involvement between the figures, it is the female character's face with an infectious smile that appeals to the viewer's gaze.
Marc Chagall's Birthday, 1915
In honor of his beloved wife Bela Rosenfeld, Marc Chagall created the painting “ The Anniversary ”, in which these two are represented in the center of the canvas. Bela finds himself with a bunch of flowers practically flying, waiting for a kiss from Marc Chagall, who is shown levitating and approaching his wife. The absence of gravity is a metaphor, alluding to the love felt by the couple, which is so great that it is capable of taking them to heights. Around the couple, there is a meticulously decorated environment and through the windows it is possible to see the environment outside.
