Lovers by moonlight: seven romantic paintings of the night

A balcony under a full moon, a beach in the blue hour, a magic carpet across a red sky. Seven paintings of love after dark.

A young woman in white resting her head on the shoulder of a man in a pale suit on a vine-covered terrace under a full moon, a small table beside them; painted by Karl Schweninger the Younger.

Night is when lovers talk. The day's work is done, the house is quiet, and the moon gives just enough light to see a face by. Nineteenth-century painters loved the challenge of moonlight, blue and silver against warm lamplight, and these seven paintings show couples on balconies, at windows and on beaches, after dark.

1. Lovers in Moonlight

A young woman in white resting her head on the shoulder of a man in a pale suit on a vine-covered terrace under a full moon, a small table beside them; painted by Karl Schweninger the Younger.

Karl Schweninger the Younger — Lovers in Moonlight, 19th century. Complete composition.

Karl Schweninger's couple sit on a vine-covered terrace under a full moon, she in white with her head on his shoulder, he gazing up at the sky. A little table with a glass stands beside them. The moonlight and the shadows of the leaves fall across them like lace.

Silver and deep blue: the quintessential romantic night.

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2. Young Couple in Moonlight

A young woman in a pink dress leaning back against a young man on a wooden balcony as a pale moon rises above the vines; painted by Anton Ebert.

Anton Ebert — Young Couple in Moonlight, before 1896. Complete composition.

Anton Ebert's young couple sit on a balcony in the evening, the girl in a pink dress leaning back against the young man, both gazing up as the moon rises above the vines. Warm light from inside falls on her dress.

Rosy pinks against a mauve evening sky: a soft, romantic picture.

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3. Reverie

A young woman in an off-the-shoulder dress leaning against a young man at a window at night, lit by a cold blue-green light; painted by Charles-Amable Lenoir.

Charles-Amable Lenoir — Reverie, 1893. Complete composition.

Charles-Amable Lenoir's couple stand at a window at night, lit only by a cold blue light. She leans against him, her hand at her chin, lost in thought; he looks out at the dark. Lenoir called it Reverie.

Deep blue-green and mysterious: a picture for a quiet, dark room.

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4. Summer Evening on Skagen's Beach: the Artist and his Wife

A woman in a white dress and a man in a pale suit and straw hat walking arm in arm along a beach at dusk, the moon reflected in the calm blue sea, a dog beside them; painted by Peder Severin Krøyer.

Peder Severin Krøyer — Summer Evening on Skagen's Beach: the Artist and his Wife, 1899. Hirschsprung Collection, Copenhagen. Complete composition.

Krøyer and his wife Marie walk along Skagen beach in the blue hour of a Danish summer night, the moon making a path of light on the still sea. Krøyer painted this hour, when sky and sea turn the same blue, again and again.

The most luminous blue in the collection: calm and timeless.

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5. The Flying Carpet

A prince and a princess in gold embracing as they fly on a magic carpet above a lake that reflects a blazing red sky; painted by Viktor Vasnetsov.

Viktor Vasnetsov — The Flying Carpet, 1919–26. Vasnetsov House-Museum, Moscow. Complete composition.

Viktor Vasnetsov, the painter of Russian fairy tales, shows a prince and his bride flying home on a magic carpet, wrapped together against the cold, over a lake that mirrors a blazing red sky. It is a fairy tale of love and escape.

Fiery red and violet: a magical picture for a child's room or a dreamer's study.

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6. Embrace in Evening Light

A woman with long red hair in a pale blue gown embracing a man in a gold robe and jewelled cap between red columns, with dark evening water behind; painted by Gaston Bussière.

Gaston Bussière — Embrace in Evening Light, 1927. Complete composition.

Gaston Bussière's lovers embrace between the red columns of a loggia in the blue of evening, she in pale blue with long red hair, he in a gold robe and a jewelled cap. Behind them, dark water and tall trees.

Jewel colours against twilight blue: decorative and very romantic.

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7. Tristan and Isolde (Yseult in the Forest)

Tristan holding Yseult close in a pine forest, her long blond hair under a gold circlet, in pale silvery light; painted by Gaston Bussière.

Gaston Bussière — Tristan and Isolde (Yseult in the Forest), 1911. Complete composition.

Tristan and Yseult hide in the forest, as the legend tells, holding each other among the pine branches in a pale silvery light. Bussière makes it look like moonlight in the woods.

Silvers and soft blues: a tender, quiet picture.

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Night paintings are the most atmospheric pictures to live with: they change as the light in the room changes. Every one here is printed whole from its restored scan, and each has its own portrait style.

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