Love on the Lake Print

In July 2020, during a brief window of opportunity snatched between two COVID lockdowns, I spent a week on Lake Como in Italy with a group of friends from Amsterdam. We practiced yoga in the garden, hiked in the high mountains, swam and boated on the lake. But most importantly, we left behind us the boredom and loneliness of lockdown and connected with each other in intimacy and authenticity as living, breathing, human beings. For me, this painting represents the love between friends during those dazzlingly bright Italian summer days. Although the painting is about friendship, it is also an unashamed adoration of beauty and youth. There is mystery there, too, and perhaps even longing, because two of the people in the painting are romantically connected to each other, while others would perhaps like to be. But I want to keep the viewer guessing as to what the real and imagined romantic connections are. In atmosphere, the painting is inspired partly by Alma Tadema's "Amo te, ama me". This too is a story of youthful love and connection in the Italian summer. In hommage to that painting, I added a bouquet of wild red roses in the girl's hand. The wild rose is a symbol of love and adoration and is strongly associated with Aphrodite, the Greek goddess of beauty and love. It is also a symbol of secrets, for anything said 'under the rose' is never to be repeated or spoken of again.