American
ca. 1840
Watercolor on ivory
They say to be loved is to be seen.
Imagine having your lover paint your eyes on a 2.5 x 1.9 cm brooch. Then, imagine the back of the brooch has a lock of your hair encapsulated in it. That is what “Lover’s Eyes” is.
To some, taking the time to paint something so detailed on something so small (and then putting a person’s hair on the back) may seem a bit obsessive, but is that not what love is? Is love not caring so deeply for someone else that you memorize their eyes and want to keep them with you all of the time? I think that real love is always a little obsessive. I mean, think of all of the crazy things that people have done in the name of love. This painting represents the beautiful side of what love can make a person do. This artist’s lover was their muse, and they seemingly felt inspired by the sight of them.
I think modernity has changed the ways in which we show love to one another for the worse. Today, money is everything. Expensive gifts and giant displays of affection seem to be commonplace, extracting the intimacy out of the gesture. It just doesn’t feel personal anymore. Like I said before, to be loved is to be seen. It is our human nature to want to feel seen. Nothing about myself is reflected in a designer bag, but I almost cry every time someone writes me a letter or gives me a small item they picked up at a flea market because it reminded them of me. That is love. That is being seen. Those feelings are our purpose, fueling us to continue on another day because we know that there is someone out there who really, truly knows us. I find immense amounts of beauty in that.
It’s funny how such a small item can hold such great meaning, and who even knows if it’s really that deep. To me, it’s a good reminder that all of those around us want to be loved just as much as we do, and that we should take the time to let them know how much they mean to us. Sometimes the little things mean so much more.
Image Sourced from the Metropolitan Museum of Art
Not an Artist 