Is art represented in love, or love represented in art - discover how some of the world’s most intimate artworks celebrate love and lust.

Love and Passion Through the Prism of Painting
Erich Fromm - 1900 - 1930 - was convinced that love was a form of art, no different from painting, sculpting, and pottery. He penned the idea that like art love required knowledge and practice - and without practicing daily, you will not be successful in being “good at love”.

On the other hand, many people argue that the love we have directly reflects the art we produce. Love has been considered the inspiration behind the art for several centuries - but what feeling do some of the world’s most famous artworks invoke in us?

A Look at the Nature of Human Relationships Depicted in the Artworks:

According to https://adultdatingadvice.net, passionate artworks really can arouse desire for intimacy and tenderness - and it isn’t uncommon to find sex and love scenes represented in both modern and historical artworks.

But does how human relationships are depicted in art affect our overall feelings for sex and relationships or arouse us the same way as romantic movies or porn has?

Marc Chagall “The Birthday”, 1915
Marc Chagall created “The Birthday” shortly before his wedding with the love of his life. The painting represents the “floating” feeling he felt, as well as the flowing and passionate love they have for each other. The painting is meant to represent true and “solid” love, as demonstrated through the use of primary colors.

René Magritte “The Lovers”, 1928
The phrase blinded by love is often used to describe new lovers - and for most of us, the phrase is true. Whether we’re wearing rose-tinted spectacles or overwhelming feelings blind us, “the lovers” perfectly represents the true passion and sometimes absent mindlessness of falling in love or starting a new relationship.

The painting also helps us understand that new partners are not always exactly as they seem - in fact many people wear a mask until they are 100% comfortable with a new partner and helps us remember that.

Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec “Le Lit” (“The Bed”), 1892
While Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec’s Le Lit might depict a couple madly in love, Toulouse-Lautrec spent a lot of time in brothels, drawing and painting what he saw to document his time. In the 1890’s he became obsessed with the Paris nightlife, particularly the red-light districts and brothels in the city, and in 1892 he was commissioned by a Paris brothel to create a series of paintings.

The painting Le Lit often makes us think of true love between a “traditional couple” - however, it has never been revealed whether it is men or women or a lesbian relationship. But the closeness of the couple reminds us that sometimes sex is just that - sex.

Pablo Picasso “Figure At The Seaside”, 1931
Picasso’s Figure at the Seaside is part of a series deemed bizarre by most critics. However, the paintings are thought to be inspired by the deterioration of his relationship with his wife. While still representing entanglement and solidarity, the paintings are a “mess” and represent the things that can go wrong - even in the perfect relationships and romances.

As a series, the paintings are a reminder that even the most entwined people and committed relationships can still reach troubled waters.

Gustav Klimt “The Kiss”, 1907
Conserved in a museum in Vienna, “The Kiss” is meant to represent tenderness and passion and the unity of two bodies embracing each other. The painting helps us see that we stop being an individual person through true love and start living as a unit.

Egon Schiele “The embrace”, 1917
While the painting might make some people think of anxiety; it is meant to represent intimate affection between two lovers. The painting was created to express the perfect union between two people who are meant to be together - without the stresses of outside forces - and who will remain together through everything.

Edvard Munch “The Kiss”, 1897
Munch created a series of paintings depicting the different stages of love, and “The Kiss” was painted in the hope of representing unity through their blurred and combined faces. The painting helps us to remember a kiss “seals the deal” in many cases, stopping the anxiety and allowing us to think of ourselves as one with a new partner.