Lovers in Art

This collection of love-related art is both a survey of important works and a chronicle of love throughout history. Formal courting, illicit kisses, fervent couplings, unrequited passions and domestic contentment are all captured here in works by van Eyck, Bruegel, Rembrandt, Fragonard, Rubens, Kahlo, Schiele, Klimt, Lichtenstein and others. Each image is accompanied by a brief text that aims to shed light on the customs and mores of the time. In an accompanying essay, the author considers how courtship, marriage and romance have evolved over history and how they have been interpreted - and reinvented - by the world's great artists.