Oil paint on canvas
Tate Britain
Tate Collection
Works with images
Works on display
General Collection
Chantrey Bequest
Collection
<a href="https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artists/anna-lea-merritt-378" aria-label="More by Anna Lea Merritt" data-gtm-name="header_link_artist" data-gtm-destination="page--artist">Anna Lea Merritt</a>
Love Locked Out
Presented by the Trustees of the Chantrey Bequest 1890
architecture
bell
birth to death
boy
children
classical
classical myths: gods and heroes
column
death
door
emotions and human qualities
emotions, concepts and ideas
Eros / Cupid
features
love
male
memorial
monuments
nudes
objects
people
periods and styles
plants and flowers
religion and belief
religious and ceremonial
rose
society
tomb
<p>This picture shows young Cupid, the god of desire, pressed against the door of a tomb. It was painted as a memorial to the artist’s husband, who died just two months after they married. The thorny rose around the door frame represents the pain and persistence of love. Cupid has abandoned the world, his arrow and extinguished lamp lie on the ground with the autumn leaves. He is waiting, in the artist’s words, ‘for the door of death to open and the reunion of the lonely pair’. Merritt was a successful professional painter of a variety of subjects, including nudes. Some considered nudes unsuitable for women artists at the time. <span>Love Locked Out </span>proved popular when exhibited in 1890 and was bought for the nation.</p><p><em>Gallery label, August 2019</em></p>
painting oil paint canvas
1 November 2001 – 31 August 2003
2003-08-31
6 September 2002 – 5 January 2003
2003-01-05
2002-09-06
Brooklyn Museum of Art (New York, USA)
2001-11-01
Exposed: The Victorian Nude
Exhibition
19 April 2004 – 11 June 2006
2006-06-11
19 April 2004 – 11 June 2006
2006-06-11
2004-04-19
Tate Britain (London, UK)
http://www.tate.org.uk/britain/
2004-04-19
Cult of Youth
Collection based display
1 December 2007 – 6 April 2008
2008-04-06
1 December 2007 – 6 April 2008
2008-04-06
2007-12-01
Palazzo Reale (Milan, Italy)
2007-12-01
Women in Art, from Renaissance to Surrealism
Loan-out
15 September 2012 – 31 January 2013
2013-01-31
15 September 2012 – 31 January 2013
2013-01-31
2012-09-15
Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery (Birmingham, UK)
http://www.bmag.org.uk
2012-09-15
Love and Death: Victorian Paintings from Tate
Loan-out
5 November 2016 – 31 August 2025
2025-08-31
5 November 2016 – 5 February 2017
2017-02-05
2016-11-05
Art Gallery of New South Wales (Sydney, Australia)
http://www.artgallery.nsw.gov.au
18 March 2017 – 16 July 2017
2017-07-16
2017-03-18
Auckland Art Gallery (Auckland, New Zealand)
11 August 2017 – 4 February 2018
2018-02-04
2017-08-11
Seoul Olympic Museum of Art (Seoul, South Korea)
24 March 2018 – 24 June 2018
2018-06-24
2018-03-24
Yokohama Museum of Art (Yokohama, Japan)
13 July 2018 – 28 October 2018
2018-10-28
2018-07-13
Kaohsiung Museum of Fine Arts (Kaohsiung, Taiwan)
2016-11-05
Nude: art from the Tate collection
Tate partnerships & programmes
16 May 2024 – 13 October 2024
2024-10-13
16 May 2024 – 13 October 2024
2024-10-13
2024-05-16
Tate Britain (London, UK)
http://www.tate.org.uk/britain/
2024-05-16
Now You See Us: Women Artists in Britain 1520-1920
Exhibition
Love Locked Out
support: 1156 × 641 mm
frame: 1450 × 930 × 110 mm
Presented by the Trustees of the <a href="/search?gid=999999977" data-gtm-name="tombstone_link_bequest" data-gtm-destination="list-page--search-results">Chantrey Bequest</a> 1890
<div><p><span>This picture is a memorial to Anna Lea Merritt’s husband, who died just two months after they married. It shows young Cupid pressed against the door of a tomb. His arrow and lamp lie on the ground. He is waiting, said the artist, ‘for the door of death to open and the reunion of the lonely pair’. Merritt was a successful professional painter, yet some at the time considered nudes an unsuitable subject for women artists. Love Locked Out was popular and bought for the nation when it was first exhibited.</span></p></div>
Online caption
2024-04-22T00:00:00
online-caption
ONLINE_CAPTION
architecture bell birth to death boy children classical classical myths: gods and heroes column death door emotions and human qualities emotions, concepts and ideas Eros / Cupid features love male memorial monuments nudes objects people periods and styles plants and flowers religion and belief religious and ceremonial rose society tomb