THE STAGES OF LOVE PORTRAYED IN FIVE FAMOUS PAINTINGS
As you well know, since man has existed, painting has played a fundamental role not only for the cultivation of the spirit, but also for the transmission of knowledge and as a means of communication. Painting is one of the most archaic artistic manifestations on record, since at least there are testimonies dating back as far as 35 000 years.
The materials and themes of the ancient paintings, known as cave paintings, are varied. They could represent human beings, animals, the environment, representing also the usual behavior of groups and their interaction with the creatures of the environment and their gods. In cave paintings, one or two colors were generally used, including some blacks, reds, yellows and ochres. With so few materials, man not only collected the way and manner of hunting animals, of worshipping their gods, but also the hierarchies among them, the activities to survive and even the ways of relating lovingly.
In this post I wanted to see the representation of the different stages of love through the paintings. Rather than making an analysis of the works of art, we will talk about the different moments of that feeling that we have all felt and suffered. Let's begin:
5 Paintings Portraying the Phases of Love
The kiss, by Gustav Klimt or the anamoramiento
This first phase is very well represented with this painting by Gustav Klimt. In it we can observe a couple given to the sample of affection in a genuine embrace and a kiss. Note that although the woman offers the cheek and not the lips, there is a rapture and ecstasy in the female face. Observe the blush, the closed eyes, the shape of the hands of the female figure. The feeling of falling in love is the one where human beings begin the game of love, they start the discovery of the other. In it we begin to feel the need of the other person, their approach, the illusion of having close to the other person can even cause us insomnia. The most common physical symptoms of this stage are redness, tremors or palpitations, excitement and nervousness, obsession, fantasy thoughts and fear of rejection.
Lovers, of René Magritte or blindness
Many theories have been made of this work by René Magritte. Today we will keep the ideas that have to do with love. In this work we see two people, man and woman, with their faces covered, kissing. Immediately the idea that this painting offers us is that of secret love, that of two lovers who have to hide from society; but also, of how we do not show our true face to the other, of how we do not know the true personality of the one we fall in love with; that is to say, I do not show everything that I am, nor am I able to see everything that is the other because I am in a state of spell. There is a moment when we live love that way: blind. So much so that we can give positive characteristics to the loved one and avoid the negative ones in an attempt to perfect the other person. Who has not been willing to commit some madness for love? Love, at some point, can be irrational, unfounded, and misleading.
Drawing for Kiss V, by Roy Lichtenstein or suffered love
That Roy Lichtenstein's Drawing for Kiss is a work of art is no longer disputed. What seems to be the extract of a comic, is actually an acrylic on canvas handmade with brush, dot by dot. This painting shows a woman in tears embracing her partner. The question is: Are they tears of happiness or sadness? And it is that sometimes we can suffer for love.
Let us clarify that when we talk about suffering for love, it is not that the person with whom we fall in love makes us suffer, it hurts us, but because we love, we suffer. A person who loves can suffer the suffering of the other person, suffer when things go wrong with the other. This stage of the relationship requires not only surrender of the two parts, but also mutual understanding, knowledge, which can only come with time. When we live this love we no longer speak of two people, we can speak of only one.
The Arnolfini marriage, by Jan van Eyck or the consolidation of love
Jan van Eyck's famous painting introduces us to the couple at the time of marriage or at least is the most used thesis when talking about Van Eyck's painting. In this painting we can see that unlike the previous paintings, the bodies of the man and the woman are separated, there is only minimal contact through the hands. The face of each one is visible: the face of the serious man, that of the woman, self-absorbed. When we see the bulging female belly, we know that she is pregnant. This is a couple that from what we see maintains a high degree of confidence: the shoes of both, the dog, the bed. In this part of the relationship, it seems that effusive hugs and passionate kisses are not necessary, apparently there is intimacy between them, but it is a quiet intimacy. Nothing to do with the restless and overflowing passion of the previous stages. It is a couple that has put down roots (house, dog, son) and strengthens in that union.
American Gothic, Grant Wood or everyday life
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https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/El_beso_(Gustav_Klimt)
https://historia-arte.com/obras/los-amantes-de-magritte
https://www.elmundo.es/elmundo/2011/03/30/cultura/1301513129.html
https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Retrato_de_Giovanni_Arnolfini_y_su_esposa
https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Gothic
Written by @nancybriti
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Thank you!
Very good work of selection and commentary around the evolution of the love relationship through emblematic pictorial works. Congratulations, @nancybriti! I believe that you have presented and described with great pertinence and property the manifestation of love that can be shown in each work(of the five I feel a particular affection, as paintings, for that of Klimt, Magritte -one of my favorite painters- and that of Wood). Moreover, you give a synthetic but sustained interpretation of the stages of that complex feeling and experience that constitutes love. I believe that with love it happens as with all life, being that, of course, in great part, the foundation of this: although each individual can consciously and voluntarily try to nourish the loving relationship and try not to make it fall or become routine, the force of life itself, of the circumstances, of the conditions of each one, will imprint its marks, and even its destiny(s). Grateful for your excellent post, and also to @adsactly for spreading it. Greetings.
Although some of these paintings were not made for this purpose, the analogy with love was good for you. For example, I have read that Magritte's Lover has to do with the death of the artist's mother, so in the American Gothic is the representation of a father and a daughter, who in reality were the dentist and the author's sister, and speaks of a social time in the United States. I think many of us can identify with each of these stages. The ideal would be to stay in the former, but love is entrenched in the latter, where it is not necessary to speak in order to understand each other. Thank you for sharing!
Yes, some of these paintings are not intended to express love, but they served me to exemplify the stages of love. Especially because of what the drawn images express, the feelings they transmit and make you feel. Sometimes it's good to play with the imagination. Thank you for commenting.
Painting is also an essential part of non-verbal communication. I love paintings but one of the problems i encounter is not being able to decode the message in it and when you cannot do that information and communication is defeated. But for these paintings here today, showing the various phases of love by different famous painters is clear for one to understand. Love is a beautiful thing to some people and another thing to other people, you correctly pointed out that it must attain various stages before it becomes stronger, love needs patience and truth to exist.
I should start paying more attention to painting maybe that way i could be able to read it meaning without it being interpreted to me by someone else.
I agree with you on everything: art is a form of communication and expression; also, love is a feeling that requires a lot of patience and certainly, the more attention you pay to observe, stop at some details, know about symbols and very especially, feel what is in front of you, you will surely find it easier to interpret the paintings. Thank you for always commenting.
The selection of these paintings to illustrate the different stages of love is perfect. These works of art move the fibers of a beautiful feeling, especially the first ones in which the initial stages of a loving relationship are explained. I believe that so that the love of couple does not fall into the routine, in the custom and thus not reproduce the picture of Grant Wood in our lives, must be cultivated and maintained always in the stage of daily infatuation with small details, with affectionate gestures and with the magic of the flame lit . Love is the most powerful feeling among human beings and I think that we must live it and feel it fully. I really liked this publication, @nancybriti. Thanks to @adsactly for always sharing quality content. Greetings to the team.
Glad you liked it, @aurodivys! I think that one of the challenges for people in love is just to keep that flame burning daily, not to fall into routine or idleness. Love deserves us to bet on it. Thank you for always commenting. Greetings
Although I haven't fallen in love yet, I think I would stay in the first stage. Love is a feeling that seems very complex to me. I think there are many more stages in between. As for the paintings, it seems to me that there is an agreement with what you say with what they can transmit. The last painting seems to me to be appropriate for that stage in which the couple is as if annoyed, that they are many years old and hardly speak to each other. Indisputably I keep the first stage and the first painting: the kiss and the magic. I enjoyed this post.
Hahahaha. Yes, the ideal would be to stay in that first part, but love, like all things, must advance, be strengthened. You will feel it when you fall in love. Thank you for commenting.
Roy Lichtenstein, in the painting for Drawing for Kiss V, managed to express with stingy lines and restrained local colors a multitude of human emotions. A kiss that blends passion, suffering, joy, despair, love and tears - this image impresses with its genuine sincerity and the modest artistic ways in which it is achieved.
The picture is a close-up, similar to a fragment of a photograph enlarged and colored to the brightness of the poster, which successfully reflects the style of the master. Clear graphical outlines of faces, sparse techniques, rich local colors - like nothing special, and the picture strikes the viewer to the very heart. There are no details here, everything is extremely concise, but completely devoid of the deadness and detachment of the poster. The picture is full of life, people, with all the sketchiness of the image seem to be full of energy, moving and no less real than we are.
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If you look closely at the Arnolfini Portrait, there's actually four people in the painting. 🤓
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That's right. That's right. That's right. One of the attractions of this painting is precisely what is behind the main figures. The mirror with its back to the couple is another representation of marriage. There we can observe that in the ceremony there are two other people, among them the priest. Thank you for pointing out that detail.
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