L'amour trouble 1944

Jacques Hérold made this painting, L’amour trouble, sometime in the 20th century. I find the monochrome palette gives it a sort of moon-like glow. The artist seems interested in shapes; the soft edges of the ground contrasting with the sharp geometry of the figures. The surface is relatively smooth, and it's hard to see the brushstrokes, but you can make out the texture of the canvas. It’s all carefully considered, lending a dreamlike quality to the work. Look closely at the tallest geometric form; it gives the sense of shifting and shimmering as if it might disappear. Hérold was a surrealist, and I'm reminded here of Giorgio de Chirico, who was doing strange dreamscapes like this way back in the 1910s. Ultimately, this is an enigmatic piece. It’s more about feeling than understanding, about accepting uncertainty rather than seeking easy answers.