Light of Love

#94003     168 X 122 cm     Print     1994

T. F. Chen chooses Raphael’s “Madonna of the Chair” (1507) as one of his primary Icons of Love. The benevolent mother and child float serenely like a Moon on the night sky while underneath, Rousseau’s sleeping gypsy (“The Sleeping Gypsy,” 1897) reclines in the desert. This dreamy scenario, spanning almost four centuries, is witnessed by Magritte’s “The Intimate Friend,” finished a half century later in 1958. The above-mentioned three paintings come together into the post-modern work by T. F. Chen, “Light of Love.”The night is deep. The sky dazzles with stars. The red, vermilion, gold, green and blue of the Moon-Madonna and child reflect gracefully in the rainbow colorbands of the robe of the sleeping Gypsy. This lovely vision attracts a wild lion, which comes by to protect and bless the traveler.

Indeed, only through the light of Love-the real Soul of our planet could such a tranquil, enchanted scene appear.