Love Stories

Exploring the changing face of love, from the 16th century to the present, through masterpieces of portraiture

Drawing on recent scholarship, Love Stories explores changing ideas of love, and gives readers the opportunity to discover love stories both tragic and transcendent.

The stories cover a variety of topics: the muse, scandal, tragedy, literature, the shared studio and life lived in front of the camera. These themes are illustrated through the stories of such well-known names as the Bloomsbury Group, Oscar Wilde, John Lennon and Yoko Ono, Sylvia Plath and Ted Hughes, Lee Miller and Man Ray, and many more.

Love Stories is brought to life through the perspective of various authors, using material from the sitters’ own letters, diaries and poetry, while highlighting their connection to and influence on some of the greatest masterpieces of art.