By Gustav Klimt – Wikimedia

Top 10 Things to Know about The Kiss by Gustav Klimt


 

Gustav Klimt was an Austrian symbolist painter born in 1918. He was one of the most prominent members of the Vienna Secession movement.

Klimt’s primary subject was the feminine body. His works are marked by a frank eroticism as is evident in all his paintings, murals, sketches, and other objet d’art.

One of his masterpieces during the early modern period is The Kiss. It is a depiction of lust and love.

This piece of art hangs in an Art Gallery in Vienna where art enthusiasts flock to admire it.

The painting has a beautiful story behind as is with most of Klimt’s work. So here are the top 10 things to know about The Kiss.

1. Love, intimacy and sexuality featured in most of Klimt’s paintings

One constant theme in Klimt’s paintings was love, intimacy, and sexuality. His first works, the Stoclet Frieze and Beethoven Frieze focused on romantic intimacy.

Klimt’s next work was The Kiss which shows a couple embracing each other. In this painting, art scholars and critics believe that Klimt was his own muse.

The couple in the painting are painted in gold against a flat background.

They are also at the edge of an ornamental meadow and the woman’s feet are exposed. She is also wearing a flowing dress adorning floral patterns.

There’s also the use of geometric patterns and soft swirls on the man’s robe while his crown is made of vines.

2. Klimt’s painting is a true definition of art nouveau

Klimt’s use of patterns in the painting suggests the style of Art Nouveau which is part of the Arts and Crafts movement.

The background of this painting brings out the conflict between two and three-dimensionality of modernist painters.

This painting is a visual indicator of fin-de-siecle spirit that alludes to decadence through luxurious and sensuous images.

The luxury is conveyed through the use gold leaf which was common in medieval gold-ground paintings.

Bronze Age art is shown through the illuminated manuscripts and spiral patterns in the clothes.

Another Art Nouveau feature in this painting is the positioning of the man’s head. It is very close to the top of the canvas; this shows the influence of Japanese prints.

His use of gold in the painting was inspired by a trip to Italy back in 1903. He was impressed by the mosaic he saw in Church of San Vitale.

3. The painting was considered inappropriate by some

By Gustav Klimt – Wikimedia

The Kiss was not warmly received by all that saw it. After its release, the people that saw the painting did not give a unanimous answer.

Most people saw the painting as more adult and indecent. After the Victorian era, the people were considered conservative and as such, the painting was considered to be scandalous.

This is in contrast to today’s beliefs where it would be considered completely descent since the couple are fully dressed.

Klimt painted The Kiss just after his three-part Vienna Ceiling series. These paintings were said to provoke a scandal and were panned as being pornographic and of perverted excess.

4. The painting before the Kiss by Klimt had more nudity

By Gustav Klimt – Wikimedia

Before creating this famous piece, Klimt first paintings had received scathing scorn.

They were a three-part series done on the ceiling of the University of Vienna.

The nudity in these paintings was intended to depict philosophy, medicine and jurisprudence.

Critics termed them as indecent and corrupt which injured his reputation.

The showcase at the University of Vienna was seen as a failure because the figures were completely uncovered.

The Kiss is said to be more subtle compared to the first paintings. It was therefore not harshly criticized as the previous ones.

5. The Kiss was bought before it was finished

Despite the negative criticism of The Kiss, not everyone rejected it. It was happily received and bought before Klimt could put finishing touches on it.

The painting was bought by the Austrian government shortly after it was put on public exhibition. It was bought by Belvedere Museum who added it to their permanent collection.

This was in 1908 at the Kunstschau in Vienna. It coincided with the celebrations of the 60th anniversary of Emperor Francis Joseph I reign.

6. The Kiss was bought at a very high price

Photo by Marek Studzinski on Unsplash

Despite it being unfinished and not fully embraced by many, The Kiss was sold at a very high price.

Most artworks during that time sold for about 500 crowns. The Belvedere Museum paid 25,000 crowns for this painting. That would be an estimate of $240,000 if converted to today’s value.

There is no chance that the Belvedere Museum will part ways with this valuable artwork anytime soon.

7. Klimt painted The Kiss while suffering a creative panic

Like most artists of his time, Klimt was not spared from financial hardships and rejection.

His first work at the University of Vienna was not well received and he was harshly ridiculed. In the work that followed, Klimt was nervous and full of doubt.

He is quoted in 1907, to have mentioned in a letter that something was not right, either he was too old, stupid or nervous.

This did not stop him from working on his next masterpiece, The Kiss.

Although he panicked and nervously sketched his work, it became a success and was bought before he could complete it.

8. The Kiss painting is made with real gold

By Gustav Klimt – Wikimedia

Klimt did not shy away from using plenty of gold and yellow tones in painting The Kiss. The painting, therefore, makes use of both oil paint and real gold.

Klimt created this famous masterpiece during the Golden Period and brings out his originality. Not many artists incorporated gold in their works.

The use of gold also tells of Klimt’s childhood whereby his father and brother loved metalwork.

An interesting fact about the use of gold in The Kiss is that it ignited eroticism.

It was considered a violation of Catholicism since gold had a religious meaning. This was Klimt’s final piece of the Gold Period.

9. Klimt’s painting is a stylistic blend

Klimt was in no doubt a unique artist. This is because he was credited to using a number of different styles in his paintings.

The stylistic inspiration of The Kiss was drawn from Byzantium art. Klimt added his unique modern twist to this classic genre.

His use of subjects in the painting make it stand out even more. Most of his paintings had female subjects, and The Kiss was unique because of a male and female figure embracing.

The use of clothing in this painting was also unique because most artists never focused on their subject’s robes.

10. Klimt and his lover were the muses for The Kiss

Art scholars believe that Klimt and his companion Emilie Floge were the muses for The Kiss. There is however no proof that they did it.

Other critics said that the female figure is a famous model known as Red Hilda. This is because the figure strongly resembles her features.

Some hinted that it could be a lady that worked as a salon hostess and society woman Adele Bloch-Bauer, who had posed for a Golden Period portrait that same year.