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[[Image:2003 Austria 100 Euro Painting back.jpg|thumb|right|160px|[[Euro gold and silver commemorative coins (Austria)#2003 coinage|The painting coin]] featuring "The Kiss"]]
[[Image:2003 Austria 100 Euro Painting back.jpg|thumb|right|160px|[[Euro gold and silver commemorative coins (Austria)#2003 coinage|The painting coin]] featuring "The Kiss"]]


'''''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 Kiss''''' (original ''Der Kuss'') was painted by [[Gustav Klimt]], and is probably his most famous work. He began work on it in 1907 and it is the highpoint of his so-called 'Golden Period'. It depicts a couple, in various shades of gold and symbols, sharing a [[kiss]] against a bronze background.

⚫
When he painted ''The Kiss'' Klimt was 45 and still lived at home with his mother and two unmarried sisters - but behind the respectable façade he was a man with a ferocious sexual appetite. Klimt fathered at least three illegitimate children and probably many more. He was obsessed by women and he had a fixation with redheads. It is no surprise that the woman in ''The Kiss'' has red hair. According to writer Frank Whitford: "Together the man and the woman form the shape of an erect penis and I think that is intentional - it's about sex and about the fulfilment of sex between a man and a woman." <ref> [[Private Life of a Masterpiece]], Klimt's ''The Kiss'' BBCTV </ref>


Two figures are situated at the edge of a flowered escarpment. The man is wearing neutral coloured rectangles and a crown of vines; the woman wears brightly coloured tangent circles and flowers in her hair. The couple’s embrace is enveloped by triangular vining and a veil of concentric circles.<br />
Two figures are situated at the edge of a flowered escarpment. The man is wearing neutral coloured rectangles and a crown of vines; the woman wears brightly coloured tangent circles and flowers in her hair. The couple’s embrace is enveloped by triangular vining and a veil of concentric circles.<br />
Similarly juxtaposed couples appear in both Klimt’s ''[[Beethoven Frieze]]'' and ''[[Stoclet Frieze]]''.
Similarly juxtaposed couples appear in both Klimt’s ''[[Beethoven Frieze]]'' and ''[[Stoclet Frieze]]''.
⚫
[[image:Gustavklimt.jpg|thumb|left|180px| "When he painted ''The Kiss'' Klimt was 45 and still lived at home with his mother and two unmarried sisters - but behind the respectable facade he was a man with a ferocious sexual appetite. Klimt fathered at least three illegitimate children and probably many more. He was obsessed by women and he had a fixation with redheads. It is no surprise that the woman in ''The Kiss'' has red hair. According to writer Frank Whitford; " Together the man and the woman form the shape of an erect penis and I think that is intentional - it's about sex and about the fulfilment of sex between a man and a woman." <ref> [[Private Life of a Masterpiece]], Klimts ''The Kiss'' BBC TV </ref>]]


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.
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<ref>''Klimt'' by Gilles Neret, p. 57</ref> that Klimt and his beloved companion [[Emilie Louise Flöge|Emilie Flöge]] modeled for the masterpiece.
Some think<ref>''Klimt'' by Gilles Neret, p. 57</ref> that Klimt and his beloved companion [[Emilie Louise Flöge|Emilie Flöge]] modeled for the masterpiece. Another suggestion has been that she was a model called 'Red Hilda.' There is strong visual evidence that she is the model for 'Woman with feather boa' , 'Goldfish' and 'Danae'. She told her nephew that she was the woman in 'The Kiss'. Nothing is certain.
[[image:SanVitale16.jpg|thumb|left|180px|Klimt's use of gold had been hugely influenced by a trip he had made to Italy in 1903. he went to [[Ravenna]] where he saw the Byzantine mosaics in the [[Church of San Vitale]].For Klimt the flatness of the mosaics and their lack of perspective and depth only enhanced their golden brilliance and he started to make unprecedented use of gold and silver leaf in his own work.]]

''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.{{Fact|date=December 2008}} ''The Kiss'' deviates from Klimt’s frequent portrayal of woman as the lascivious femme fatale.
''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.{{Fact|date=December 2008}} ''The Kiss'' deviates from Klimt’s frequent portrayal of woman as the lascivious femme fatale.


Revision as of 23:36, 15 August 2010

For other uses, see The Kiss.
The Kiss
ArtistGustav Klimt
Year1907-1908
TypeOil and gold leaf on canvas
LocationÖsterreichische Galerie Belvedere, Vienna, Austria
File:2003 Austria 100 Euro Painting back.jpg
The painting coin featuring "The Kiss"

The Kiss (original Der Kuss) was painted by Gustav Klimt, and is probably his most famous work. He began work on it in 1907 and it is the highpoint of his so-called 'Golden Period'. It depicts a couple, in various shades of gold and symbols, sharing a kiss against a bronze background.

When he painted The Kiss Klimt was 45 and still lived at home with his mother and two unmarried sisters - but behind the respectable façade he was a man with a ferocious sexual appetite. Klimt fathered at least three illegitimate children and probably many more. He was obsessed by women and he had a fixation with redheads. It is no surprise that the woman in The Kiss has red hair. According to writer Frank Whitford: "Together the man and the woman form the shape of an erect penis and I think that is intentional - it's about sex and about the fulfilment of sex between a man and a woman." [1]

Two figures are situated at the edge of a flowered escarpment. The man is wearing neutral coloured rectangles and a crown of vines; the woman wears brightly coloured tangent circles and flowers in her hair. The couple’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[2] that Klimt and his beloved companion Emilie Flöge modeled for the masterpiece. Another suggestion has been that she was a model called 'Red Hilda.' There is strong visual evidence that she is the model for 'Woman with feather boa' , 'Goldfish' and 'Danae'. She told her nephew that she was the woman in 'The Kiss'. Nothing is certain.

Klimt's use of gold had been hugely influenced by a trip he had made to Italy in 1903. he went to Ravenna where he saw the Byzantine mosaics in the Church of San Vitale.For Klimt the flatness of the mosaics and their lack of perspective and depth only enhanced their golden brilliance and he started to make unprecedented use of gold and silver leaf in his own work.

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.[citation needed] The Kiss deviates from Klimt’s frequent portrayal of woman 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.

Gustav Klimt and "The Kiss" were selected as the main motif for a collectors' coin, the 100 euro gold The Painting coin issued on 5 November 2003. The obverse depicts Klimt in his studio with two unfinished masterpieces on easels, while the reverse shows "Der Kuss" (The Kiss).

References

  1. ^ Private Life of a Masterpiece, Klimt's The Kiss BBCTV
  2. ^ Klimt by Gilles Neret, p. 57
Wikimedia Commons has media related to The Kiss.
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