From Rodin’s sculpture The Kiss to Magritte’s The Lovers, the theme of love has bewitched and inspired artists since the beginning of time. Entitled Love: Contemporary Art Meets Love, Chiostro del Bramante’s fall exhibit explores how prolific artists of the past century – including Robert Indiana, Tom Wesselman, Andy Warhol, Robert Indiana, Tracey Emin, Francesco Vezzoli Marc Quinn, and others – have chosen to portray one of humanity’s most universal and complex emotions. The retrospective reveals love in all of its infinite incarnations, from the ecstasy of first love to the despair of unrequited love, to the passion, jealousy, hatred, joy, and trust that love elicits.

Love Exhibition at Chiostro del Bramante — Tom Wesselmann
Smoker
Courtesy: Flora Bigai Arte Contemporanea. © Tom Wesselmann by SIAE 2016

The works displayed go beyond the classic mediums of paint and paper: Yayoi Kusama’s All the Eternal Love I have for the Pumpkins, for example, places the viewers inside a 360-degree kaleidoscope of a seemingly infinite number of polka-dotted pumpkins, created thanks to an illusive mirror room. A photo of the installation went on to become one of the most Instagrammed images to date. In a 21st-century twist, the gallery freely encourages visitors to photograph and interact with the exhibit by sharing their snaps on social media with the hashtag #chiostrolove.