Henry Orlik b. 1947
With artist's stamp verso
Framed: H. 51.5 cm. x W. 118 cm., H. 20 in. W. 46¼ in.
Further images
In this extraordinary, mesmerising image, Orlik depicts the intensity of the coupling of the Winged Lovers. The beautiful, sensually-curved female form on the left (like the unseen front of Velázquez The Rokeby Venus (The Toilet of Venus), 1647-1651, National Gallery, London) is seemingly inert and twisted like an umbilical cord and is being engulfed or being given birth to by a penis, lips and mouth. The potency of the passion of the figure on the right is conveyed by the grasping or releasing lips and is increased as it becomes a figure with arms over head, back arched in ecstasy, buttocks taught and clenched. The lovers are surrounded by wings, protecting them and shielding them, like the wings of angels, or the fins of sea mammals diving and surfacing.