I’ve always been a romantic. Unabashedly so. A lover of life and all things sweet and sensual, tender and erotic, playful and passionate. Perhaps it’s summer with its balmy moonlit nights, sun-splashed days with teasing breezes, and perfumed gardens filled with birds and bees that has put me in the mood for love.

So I’m sharing some music and art that captures all that, slightly tweaked from a post I shared long ago. This one ends with my own playful attempt at capturing that loverly feeling in water color.

We’ll start with this hauntingly sad-sweet piece by Shigeru Umebayashi from the iconic movie In the Mood for Love. “There are many reasons to adore the film,” says film critic Peter Walker, “most obviously its almost unworldly, dream-like beauty.”

Add to that its gorgeous soundtrack.

I’ve paired this music with some of my favorite romantic paintings. Edvard Munch’s “Kiss by the Window” so beautifully expresses that sense of secretive romantic love, full of lust and longing.

Here in Gustaf Tenggren’s illustration for Grimm’s Fairy Tale is a couple clearly swept away by love in a passionate embrace,

This painting by Mac Fisman portrays a tender moment in the tragic tale of Tristan and Isolde, an undying love even while knowing they must soon part.

Meeting on the Turret Stairs by Frederick Burton depicts a similar tender moment of secret lovers who soon must part.

Here we see the achingly wistful longing of a man clearly adoring a woman who may or may not return his love in William Powell painting entitled Lovers.

What I love about this painting by Erhard Loblein below is the sense of closeness and solidarity, a love fully grounded in commitment.

This painting by Emil Nolde shows the companionable devotion of love that lasts.

This playful painting by Marc Chagall captures that head-over-heels feeling of falling in love.

And below is my own playful attempt to capture a couple in the throes of love.

Which painting was your favorite? Did you ever watch the film In the Mood for Love? Are there any other films or novels that get you in the mood for love?

While my novel When Things Go Missing isn’t a love story, it’s all about love, and falling in love–with three distinct love stories woven within. You can pre-order it now on Amazon, Bookshop, Barnes & Noble