The Lovers 1987

Leonora Carrington made this enigmatic painting, called 'The Lovers', with oil on canvas. The earthiness of the color palette and its unusual combination with vibrant blues and reds feels otherworldly, like a dreamscape. Carrington’s touch is so distinctive. Take a look at the figure on the left, is it a dog, is it a person? Its fur is painted with such loose, expressive strokes. It’s as though she’s not just painting what she sees, but feeling her way through the image. I love how the artist gives us a world where the rules are bent, where animals and humans share secrets, and where love might just be the strangest magic of all. It reminds me a bit of Remedios Varo, another artist who cooked up her own symbolic language. I wonder what they talked about? Anyway, don’t try to figure it all out; just let it stir something in you.