The Night Is Liquid 1972

Editor: This watercolor, "The Night Is Liquid" by Jacques Hérold, painted in 1972, is very intriguing. I get a dreamy, almost unsettling feeling from the juxtaposition of these floating forms. How do you interpret this work? Curator: The title itself offers a crucial clue. Notice the soft, blended colors. Don't they remind you of something primordial, something that precedes clear form? It's as though Hérold is attempting to tap into a collective visual memory. The amorphous shapes carry symbolic weight – consider the darker mass at the bottom. Does it evoke a sense of grounding, or perhaps an underworld? Editor: I see what you mean. It definitely doesn't feel like a literal landscape. It's more like an idea of one, or a memory… Curator: Precisely. And those scattered dots and strokes—do they seem like stars, or perhaps some kind of ethereal energy permeating the night? Watercolor is his symbolic choice. It lacks a precise definition. Through his choice of medium, Hérold blurs the boundaries between reality and dream, offering a glimpse into a shared, subconscious space. It reminds me of alchemical traditions—how forms melt into new substances, both physical and psychic. What do you make of that? Editor: It's amazing to think about it in terms of shared symbols and collective memory, almost like a landscape of the unconscious! Curator: It highlights how symbols evolve and maintain their relevance. The night itself becomes a vessel for these enduring visual themes. Editor: I will now remember those primordial symbols while thinking of cultural memories and landscapes, the same way that Hérold might have imagined. Thanks so much for that, this was illuminating!