the painter // george weasley //

8

The Lovers, René Magritte, 1928

"So whose painting is that?" He whispered down at Olive who seemed lost in a painting.

"Ivan Kramskoy" she told him, smiling up at him. "It's one of my favorite paintings."

"It looks sad."

"I suppose it is, but it's also like a breath a fresh air when I look at it."

"Whats it called?"

"Inconsolable grief." She giggled, "So yeah, it's sad."

"Why do you like it so much?"

"The eyes." She looked at the painting, "I really like the eyes. They show a lifetime."

He looked down at her, so captivated in the painting.

"I've only ever seen this painting in a book I got at the library..." she looked up at him, "I love when artist show the real look of grief.."

He turned back to the painting, and looked in the eyes. Looking at them like Olive looks at them.

"They remind me of my mums eyes.." he told her

"She is a mother.." She turned back to the painting, "the painter and his wife lost both their sons."

Both sons...

"Did you find a favorite painting in this room?" She smiled at him. He took a deep breath, thinking of his mother and turned to see the girl smiling at him. He grabbed her hand and pulled across the gallery space.

"Yeah! Come with me." He pulled her to a corner, "I like this one. I like the colors."

He smiled

"Ah, an Edward Hopper." She beamed, "He's an American artist."

"Really?" He turned to her

"Yeah, this one is called 'Cape Cod Morning'.. It's interesting really.."

"What is?" he asked

"Do you think this is a happy or a sad painting?"

"I was going to say happy, but I feel like that's a trick question now.." He smirked with a lifted brow.

"I guess it could be both really..." she thought out loud, he stayed quiet just interested it what she had to say, "you see, that woman," she pointed at the painting, "it's a moment, really. She was tempted by the morning sun, the light. He captured her moment, her thought. It is a moment of boundless expectation." She sighed, "but.. it has been depicted by a man who knew what afternoon and evening would bring, who knew that expectations this great were bound to be disappointed. Hopper anticipated the ultimate meaning of human existence."

He looked at her and then the painting.

"We don't know what she's looking at either... The painting tells no story; instead, the woman's tense pose creates a sense of anxious anticipation, and the bifurcated image implies a dichotomy between her interior space and the world beyond." She shrugged, George took notice of others listening in on her analysis, "this was painted in the 50's in America. There was so much going on with the mug.." She looked around and saw people listening, "them.. she could be waiting for her lover to return from war, or maybe he was just coming back from work.. We don't know what or who she is waiting for, and maybe" she looked up at him and smiled, "she doesn't know either..."

"That's why you like to look at all the widows of the city when we went to Big Ben?"

She smiled