Ambivalent Love.

What does Love look like?

The Lovers II, 1928.

One in a Series. 

 

René Magritte, a surrealist artist from Belgium, painted this piece in 1928 as a part of a series of paintings entitled The Lovers. The painting, made with oil on canvas, portrays what appears to be a couple sharing an intimate kiss while their faces are covered in two separate sheets of gray fabric. The sheets are tucked tightly around their respective faces in such a way that the shape of their faces can be discerned. 

 

How to Interpret It? 

 

 The color palette of the painting consists of an interesting shade of red, a color normally associated with passion and love. Here, it seems to be clashing with a dominant shade of blue on the left side of the canvas. 

 

Despite this notable color clash, the general tone of the color palette still seems to be gray and quite dull. The clothing of the two figures of the painting are also clashing. The woman on the left is wearing a shade of red which seems to match the shade of the wall on the right side of the piece. Meanwhile, the man on the right is wearing a traditional black and white suit. 

 

Moreover, the ceiling is visible in the painting despite the close-up angle focusing on the two characters' heads, making the canvas as a whole seem busy and mildly claustrophobic.

If I remember well, I discovered this painting in a museum pamphlet as a child. When I first saw the image, I thought of the painting as a portrayal of forbidden love. The couple was clearly sharing a passionate kiss, and for some reason, I saw the sheets covering their faces as a representation of an external conflict stopping them from being together. The sheets also added a layer of intimacy to me at the time. The fact that their faces were covered as if to keep their feelings hidden for themselves against the world.

 

Nowadays, my take on this painting is quite different. I have now noticed the marital and gendered dimension of the painting which I did not seem to notice at the time. I still think the image is portraying a genuine depiction of passion and love, but this depiction gains an added layer of interpretation when we acknowledge the political and cultural aspect of this painting.

 

Indeed, the two figures are very clearly symbolic of a traditional married couple with distinct gender roles, which explains the choice of clothing for both characters. The woman wearing two different shades of red, a color stereotypically associated with femininity, and the man wearing a black and white suit and tie, clearly coming back from work. The dark colors of the husband's outfit also communicate the patriarchal expectations of his role in the relationship.

 

Furthermore, the details in the background seem to be intentional. As I've previously mentioned, the ceiling is visible despite the closed-up angle focusing on the couple. Normally, the ceiling would be at a much bigger height than the people living in the house. Here, the architecture feels small and claustrophobic. This feeling of anxiety associated with the architecture is fitting because the house itself is often representative of the couple itself, such as in the movie American Beauty from 1999. In that movie, parents define their happiness through material possessions and income, which paradoxically makes them feel even more restricted to their mundane, unfulfilling lives.

Two Depictions of Love in One Painting.

 René Magritte manages to depict the different aspects of a romantic relationship through time somehow simultaneously.

 

There is visible passion between the couple in the ways they share intimacy, and yet they are both vulnerable to the inevitable loss of this very intimacy due to the regulated patriarchal society to which everyone will eventually become subservient to.

 

This specific piece is a great portrayal of heteronormative relationships and the ways in which this gendered dynamic, which we've come to accept as a universal norm, eventually damages the relationship as well as their own selves.