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The Birth of Love
Solomon J. Solomon
Exhibited R. A. 1896
The Studio (1896)
“The motive which led him to paint this allegory was the lighting of delicate flesh by warm-coloured sunlight, and the rich tones of the glowing skin of his Venus settle the entire plan of the canvas. To countenance them, and to give to them their fullest value and importance, he has surrounded the figure with an atmosphere of delicate iridescence, with gradated purples, blues, and golden yellows, which combine into harmonious agreement one with the other, and make no points of discordance with the flesh. So with his other Venus, whose nudity is the central motive of his Judgment of Paris, the painting of the background of flower-laden branches, the treatment of the draperies which veil the other goddesses, the colour of the sky and ground, are only subsidiary.” — A. L. Baldry
Scanned image and text by George P. Landow