The Kiss (Klimt painting)
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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The Kiss (original Der Kuss) was painted by Gustav Klimt, during his ‘golden period’, and is probably his most famous work. It depicts a couple, in various shades of gold and symbols, sharing a kiss against a bronze background.
The twain’s embrace is enveloped by triangular vining and a veil of concentric circles.
Similarly juxtaposed couples appear in both Klimt’s Beethoven Frieze and Stoclet Frieze.
In The Kiss, Klimt depicted a couple locked in an embrace. The rest of the painting dissolves into shimmering, extravagant flat patterning. This patterning has clear ties to Art Nouveau and to the Arts and Crafts movement and also evokes the conflict between two- and three-dimensionality instrinsic to the work of Degas and other modernists. Paintings such as The Kiss were visual manifestations of fin-de-siecle spirit because they capture a decadence conveyed by opulent and sensuous images.
Some think that Klimt and his beloved companion Emilie Flöge modeled for the masterpiece.
The Kiss is a discreet expression of Klimt’s emphasis on eroticism and the liberation therein. The Kiss falls in line with Klimt’s exploration of fulfillment and the redeeming, transformative power of love and art The Kiss is deviant from Klimt’s frequent portrayal of women as the lascivious femme fatale.
The piece is currently at the Österreichische Galerie Belvedere museum, which is housed in the Belvedere palace, in Vienna, Austria.
