Shall We Meet at Half Past Lust, or a Quarter to Folly? Shall We Meet at Half Past Lust, or a Quarter to Folly?
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“Wishes”, Raymond Peynet, drawing from the archives (nr. 1352/1971.)
Experiences

Shall We Meet at Half Past Lust, or a Quarter to Folly?

The Charm of Raymond Peynet’s ‘Lovers’
Maurycy Gomulicki
Reading
time 5 minutes

My unwavering enthusiasm for Raymond Peynet and his lovers’ (Les Amoureux) dates back almost four decades.

It began with a small claret-coloured, cloth-bound tome published in 1958, which my parents received from some friends as their engagement gift. Years later, I discovered that originally it had also included a turquoise dust cover with a cut out, heart-shaped window in the centre. I mention this because, as it happens, during my childhood this little book was a kind of window through which I could admire the world of romance, slightly tinged with a shade of erotica.

“Lovers”, Raymond Peynet, Polish edition
“Lovers”, Raymond Peynet, Polish edition
“Lovers”, Raymond Peynet, Polish edition
“Lovers”, Raymond Peynet, Polish edition

Even though I was still in short trousers, I was already fantasizing about passionate kisses. The rare glimpses of

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The Eye of Vivian Maier Was Joined with the Absolute The Eye of Vivian Maier Was Joined with the Absolute
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Self-portrait, New York, 18 October, 1953
Experiences

The Eye of Vivian Maier Was Joined with the Absolute

In this section artists and critics speak about the works they carry in their minds, and about their creators. About inspirations, artistic shocks and delights. Impressions that get stuck under your eyelids and stay there forever.

“A person can change their views, social position, profession or political camp and remain themselves, but you can’t remain yourself when muffling, or even worse uprooting, your natural aesthetic leanings. That goes too far,” Bronisław Łagowski wrote in his book What Is Better Than Truth? In communing with any work or art, I lower an invisible blind and make my ear deaf to the whispers of experts coming in from the outside. I allow my intuition, unimpressive in other situations, to operate, making the final decision on whether, and how strongly, the delight meter moves.

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