Art to see on Valentine's Day

Museums & Sights

At the Cooper Hewitt National Design Museum, Metropolitan Museum of Art and American Folk Art Museum, children can see works inspired by love. Josie Swindler

You adore your kids—you know it and they know it. But only one of you gets that a giant stuffed SpongeBob or a pound of milk chocolate isn’t necessary to prove it. Remind them what it’s all about this Valentine’s Day with visits to see innocent artworks inspired by l’amour.

Sentimental Conversation, Metropolitan Museum of Art
Children might not be able to tell just by looking at it, but this 1660s painting by Dutch artist Quiringh Gerritsz. van Brekelenkam depicts a well-to-do couple on a date. The work lends itself to a sort of “I spy” game, which parents can jump-start by posing the trick question of how many people appear in the painting. After kids locate the man hiking up the trail in the picture-within-a-picture, reveal the message of the landscape painting: Love can be a struggle.

*Sentimental Conversation is in the permanent collection of European paintings on the second floor of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Popeye wallpaper swatch, Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum
One of the scenes on this sample of children’s wallpaper, manufactured from 1938 to 1940, shows Olive Oyl swooning over a book titled Lumber Jack Love while her paramour, Popeye, pouts beside her. Assistant curator Gregory Herringshaw suggests asking children what exactly Olive Oyl might be reading about. You may need to explain how a lumberjack would differ from her sailor boyfriend. Then, ask your kiddos whether the hearts around Olive Oyl could signify something other than true love. If they say no, you’ll know they’ve been hanging out with the right crowd.

*The Popeye swatch is part of “Wall Stories: Children’s Wallpaper and Books,” on view at the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum through Apr 5.

Love Token for Sarah Newlin with Envelope, American Folk Art Museum
Tweens may forsake the Jonas Brothers’ tender lyrics for the words of the unknown author (probably a Pennsylvania Quaker) who penned this love letter in 1799. His painstaking attention to detail and original verses are sure to make little hearts go pitter-pat. The smallest visitors can spend time counting the different shapes that appear on the letter and finding familiar symbols of affection, like hearts and Xs and Os. Older children can attempt to decode the labyrinthine text. Afterward, lead them to the fifth floor to see a similar letter, Puzzle Purse Love Token, that actually calls itself a valentine.

*Love Token for Sarah Newlin with Envelope is on view in the atrium of the American Folk Art Museum’s main floor.