Click here for a larger image.

Purchase this sculpture now through our online store.

"Throughout history, sculptors have created numerous works that touch on the subject of love. But nearly every piece depicts love as a physical action between two mythical figures or as a story of passionate doom. For example, Daniel Chester French's The Sons of God Saw the Daughters of Man That They Were Fair (1923), shows us an otherworldly winged man in a passionate embrace with a very this-worldly woman. Though this is a beautiful piece—it graced the back cover of TIA, Vol. 17, No. 2—it shows love as a mythical dream not to be found on this earth. (Well, actually the woman is to be found on this earth, but the man is not.)

"Auguste Rodin in his famous work, The Kiss (1886), takes a different approach. He depicts what love is supposedly possible on this earth. He shows us two of Dante's tragic lovers—a woman and her brother-in-law—much like Shakespeare's doomed lovers, Romeo and Juliet. Rodin's lovers were meant to be placed in his planned monumental "Gates of Hell," depicting the human tragedy of a prohibited love doomed to eternal hopelessness.

"Though I find the Daniel Chester French piece to be beautiful composed and exquisitely carved, I do not find it deeply emotionally rewarding. While it depicts a tender and passionate love, it isn't a real love; it is an unobtainable dream. And while I don't enjoy the 'sketchy,' unfinished style of Rodin's sculpting technique, it is his depiction of love on this earth as tragically doomed that I can't handle.

It has taken me years to find in a piece of sculpture depicting love that was real, benevolent, and untainted by tragedy. When you follow this link, make sure that you take a look at all four images of this piece to see the figure from all sides.

"The composition of a work of sculpture can be seen in its 'gesture'—the motion or pose of the figure. Notice how our eyes follow the line of this woman's body from her outstretched elbow to the hand languidly resting on her cheek. We pause to notice the expression on her face, deep in thought, before our eyes follow the relaxed curve of her fingers. From her elbow to her fingers, our eyes follow the curve of her torso leaning her weight on her left side. Without weight on her right hip, the curve gently changes direction creating an s-curve that follows through the line of her legs down to the very tips of her curled toes.

"An s-curve is the natural shape that the human body takes when the weight of the body is supported by one side. But the shape and curvature of that s-curve can vary considerably. In an athlete ready for a competition, the curve would be shallow and taut. The nature of the s-curve is an important detail that conveys much of the meaning and mood of a piece. Here the curve is languid and sensual. As a viewer, the process of following the slow, meandering curve of her body actually takes some time. As our eyes are slowed, we get a sense of the quiet, introspective mood she is in. She is relaxed and completely lost in thought.

"And it is fairly easy for us to read her thoughts. The back of her hand, gently pressed against her cheek perhaps protects the spot where she has received a kiss. Her eyes, looking downward, tells us she is thinking fondly of her lover's kiss. Her fingers, fully relaxed, spread with her little pinky-finger bent in an distinctively feminine way. As she leans against her left arm, her torso yields into a curve. As she sits on her perch, her left foot tucks behind her right ankle, continuing the curve. And one of my favorite details is how the curve from her head and elbow, down to her toes, is perfectly concluded in the relaxed curl of her toes. Her toes are not tautly pointed as a dancer's might be. Here, the toes curl in the same languid, relaxed manner as every other detail of her body. Every muscle of her body, every ounce of her being has breathed in the thought of her lover, and as she has exhaled, her body has released, completely giving into love.

"The biggest surprise about this piece is that it portrays love by showing us a solitary figure. This isn't a love that is dreamy, otherworldly, and unreal; this isn't a passionate embrace doomed to tragedy; this isn't love conveyed through action. This is love conveyed through thought. Its focus is not on the physical relationship between the lover and the loved; its focus is on the spiritual meaning of love, in the person who feels it.

"This sculpture shows us, perhaps for the first time, that love is in the mind as much as in the body. It shows us that love is passionate and tender, that love is benevolent and obtainable. This sculpture is a celebration of what love is possible in this world—and it is far better than a dream, because here the love is real."

—Sherri Tracinski, TIA Daily, February 14