A Love Potion (2025) Original Oil Painting by Irina Smirnova-Seymour

“Love Potion” is a contemporary figurative painting about that fleeting moment when the outside world seems to disappear and only two people remain. In this romantic portrait, the lovers lean towards each other over glasses filled with a mysterious drink, while rich colour, gentle expression, and elements of symbolism transform an ordinary encounter into a small allegory of love.

It is unclear which came first — the feeling or the love potion itself. This playful ambiguity gives the work a touch of magical realism and subtle irony: perhaps there is no potion at all, and the real magic is simply what happens between two people. Here, contemporary art speaks of love as a state capable of changing the way we perceive reality.

Materials used:

Oil, linen

Details:

• Oil painting on Canvas
• One of a kind artwork
• Size: 50 x 50 x 2cm (unframed) / 50 x 50cm (actual image size)
• Signed on the front
• Style: Impressionistic
• Subject: People and portraits