What is romance? At the pre-launch evening for ROMANCE at Art+, the question lingered beautifully over an exquisite three-course dinner by Franca, Krinkewood wines, Maybe Sammy Cocktails, and a candlelit atmosphere that felt designed to answer it without ever fully defining it. Romance, the evening suggested, is not simply glamour or grand gesture; it is attention, tenderness, and the art of making another person feel seen.

The occasion was both a book launch and an exhibition opening, bringing together Françoise Kirkland’s deeply personal tribute to her husband, the legendary photographer Douglas Kirkland. Through her new book, ROMANCE, she offers not only a love letter to Douglas, but also a meditation on connection itself. The phrase she uses “Quand on aime, on a toujours vingt ans”—when one loves, one is forever twenty” — feels especially apt in a setting where every detail, from the signed book with fingerprint to the intimate dining experience, reinforced the idea that love is something lived and lasting, not merely spoken.

Douglas Kirkland’s work gives that idea visual form. A Canadian-born photographer whose career spanned more than six decades, Kirkland became one of the most influential image-makers of his generation, moving fluidly across fashion, photojournalism, and portraiture. His breakthrough came in 1961 with Marilyn Monroe, one of the most iconic portrait sessions in photographic history, and he went on to capture unforgettable images of Coco Chanel working, Brigitte Bardot, Audrey Hepburn, and many others. What made his work extraordinary was not only access to fame, but his ability to find intimacy within it.

That intimacy is what makes images such as “Bardot Ace of Hearts” so compelling. Kirkland did not simply photograph celebrities; he revealed presence, vulnerability, and atmosphere. His portraits feel alive because they are shaped by trust and emotion, not just composition. In that sense, his work speaks directly to the theme of the book and exhibition: romance as a force that is instinctive, human, and quietly powerful.

Françoise Kirkland, born and raised in Paris and educated at the Sorbonne, met Douglas on the set of How to Steal a Million, beginning a lifelong personal and creative partnership. Her book, edited with Sarah Menahem and introduced by Baz Luhrmann and Catherine Martin, comes in the wake of Douglas Kirkland’s death and carries the weight of memory, love, and artistic legacy. It is both a retrospective and a continuation — a way of preserving not only his images, but the emotional language that shaped his life.

The opening of Art+ offered a rare and intimate way to experience that legacy. In the gallery space, Kirkland’s photographs felt especially resonant: not distant or archival, but immediate and alive. Over two weeks, the exhibition gives Australian audiences the chance to engage with a photographer whose eye transformed celebrity into something more enduring — a record of affection, curiosity, and connection.

In the end, romance is not just about beauty or desire. It is about the moments that stay with us: coffee brought to bed, a comforting embrace, a glance that says “I love you” without needing more. It is also, as this evening made clear, a way of seeing the world — one that Douglas Kirkland spent a lifetime practicing, and Françoise Kirkland has now turned into a tender, lasting tribute. 

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Romance: A Douglas Kirkland Retrospective exhibition is open from 22 April to 6 May 2026 at Art+ in Potts Point (Shop 5, 81 Macleay Street, NSW 2011). 

ROMANCE by Françoise Kirkland is available to purchase at Art+ Gallery during the exhibition and via leading bookstores nationwide. A rare opportunity to have a signed copy is also available during the exhibition.