The Kiss (Klimt)

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The Kiss
The Kiss - Gustav Klimt - Google Cultural Institute.jpg
Artist Gustav Klimt
Year1907–1908 [1]
MediumOil and gold leaf on canvas [2]
Dimensions180 cm× 180 cm(71 in× 71 in)
Location Österreichische Galerie Belvedere, Vienna, Austria

The Kiss (German : Der Kuss) is an oil-on-canvas painting with added gold leaf, silver and platinum by the Austrian Symbolist painter Gustav Klimt. [3] It was painted at some point in 1907 and 1908, during the height of what scholars call his "Golden Period". [4] It was exhibited in 1908 under the title Liebespaar (the lovers) [5] as stated in the catalogue of the exhibition. The painting depicts a couple embracing each other, their bodies entwined in elaborate beautiful robes decorated in a style influenced by the contemporary Art Nouveau style and the organic forms of the earlier Arts and Crafts movement.

Contents

The painting now hangs in the Österreichische Galerie Belvedere museum in the Belvedere, Vienna, and is considered a masterpiece of Vienna Secession (local variation of Art Nouveau) and considered by many to be Klimt's most important work. [6] [7] It is considered by many as a famous work of art. [8]

Background

Fulfilment, a sketch for the 1905-09 Brussels Stoclets Gustav Klimt 031.jpg
Fulfilment, a sketch for the 1905–09 Brussels Stoclets

Love, intimacy, and sexuality are common themes found in Gustav Klimt's works.[ citation needed ] The Stoclet Frieze and the Beethoven Frieze are such examples of Klimt's focus on romantic intimacy. Both works are precursors to The Kiss and feature the recurring motif of an embracing couple.

It is thought that Klimt and his companion Emilie Flöge modeled for the work, [9] but there is no evidence or record to prove this. Others suggest the female was the model known as 'Red Hilda'; she bears strong resemblance to the model in his Woman with feather boa, Goldfish and Danaë . [10]

Description

The Kiss, Francesco Hayez, 1859 El Beso (Pinacoteca de Brera, Milan, 1859).jpg
The Kiss , Francesco Hayez, 1859

Gustav Klimt depicts the couple locked in an intimate embrace against a gold, flat background. The two figures are situated at the edge of a patch of flowery meadow that ends under the woman's exposed feet. The man wears a robe printed with geometric patterns and subtle swirls. He wears a crown of vines while the woman wears a crown of flowers. She is shown in a flowing dress with floral patterns. The man's face is not shown to the audience and instead, his face is bent downward to press a kiss to the woman's cheek, and his hands are cradling the woman's face. Her eyes are closed, with one arm wrapped around the man's neck, the other resting gently on his hand, and her face is upturned to receive the man's kiss.

The patterns in the painting suggests the style of Art Nouveau and the organic forms of the Arts and Crafts movement. At the same time, the background evokes the conflict between two- and three-dimensionality intrinsic to the work of Degas and other modernists. Paintings such as The Kiss are visual manifestations of fin-de-siecle spirit because they capture a decadence conveyed by opulent and sensuous images. The use of gold leaf recalls medieval gold-ground paintings, illuminated manuscripts, earlier mosaics, and the spiral patterns in the clothes recall Bronze Age art and the decorative tendrils seen in Western art since before classical times. The man's head ends very close to the top of the canvas, a departure from traditional Western canons that reflects the influence of Japanese prints, as does the painting's simplified composition.

Cupola of the choir: An Angel Offers a Model of The Church to Bishop Ecclesius, Basilica of San Vitale in Ravenna, Italy SanVitale16.jpg
Cupola of the choir: An Angel Offers a Model of The Church to Bishop Ecclesius , Basilica of San Vitale in Ravenna, Italy

Klimt's father was a traveling artisan specializing in gold engravings, but Klimt's use of gold leaf in paintings was inspired by a trip he made to Italy in 1903. When he visited Ravenna 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. [11]

It has also been argued that in this picture Klimt represented the moment Apollo kisses Daphne, following the Metamorphoses of Ovid narrative. [12]

Art historians have also suggested that Klimt depicts the tale of Orpheus and Eurydice. More specifically, Klimt seems to be showing the exact moment when Orpheus turns around to caress Eurydice and loses his love forever. As shown in this painting, the woman being held is slightly translucent, indicating a fading away or disappearance—as told in the story.

Reception

Klimt painted The Kiss soon after his three-part Vienna Ceiling series, which created a scandal and were criticized as both "pornographic" and evidence of "perverted excess". The works had recast the artist as an enfant terrible for his anti-authoritarian and anti-popularist views on art. He wrote, "If you can not please everyone with your deeds and your art, please a few". [13]

The Kiss was exhibited in 1908 in Vienna in the Kunstschau – the building created in collaboration by Josef Hoffmann, Gustav Klimt, Otto Prutscher, Koloman Moser and many others, to coincide with the celebrations in Vienna for the sixtieth anniversary of Emperor Francis Joseph I’s reign from 1 June to 16 November 1908. [14] [15] [5]

The Kiss, however, was enthusiastically received, and was purchased, still unfinished, by the Austrian government when it was put on public exhibition. [16]

References to The Kiss

In "The Freshman", the first episode of the fourth season of Buffy the Vampire Slayer , several vampires display posters of The Kiss that they have stolen from students they killed, remarking on how common it is as a dorm room poster. [17]

In February 2013 Syrian artist Tammam Azzam superimposed an image of the painting onto a bombed building in an unidentified part of Syria, in a work called Freedom Graffiti, to call attention to the plight of war in his country. [18]

In 2012, 20th Century Fox released the action/romance movie This Means War starring Reese Witherspoon, Tom Hardy, and Chris Pine. The film features a scene where Pine and Witherspoon's characters tour a private Klimt collection, with The Kiss being the focal piece. [19]

Altered Carbon , an American dystopian science fiction cyberpunk web television series, also makes reference to the painting which the main characters find leaning against the wall of an apartment in the far future.

The painting is also featured in the 1980 film Bad Timing directed by Nicolas Roeg and starring Art Garfunkel and Theresa Russell.

In the 2004 anime Elfen Lied , the OP Lilium features many allusions to this painting and others of similar nature. [20]

In the 2010 independent film Tiny Furniture , directed by Lena Dunham, there is a scene in which the character Frankie (played by Merritt Wever) comments on freshmen moving into her college dormitory, and she pokes fun at the ubiquity of The Kiss, exclaiming "...all the collapsable hampers and mini-fridges and posters of Gustav Klimt's The Kiss."

In The Adventures of Young Indiana Jones episode Perils of Cupid, Indiana sees the painting behind a glass display on the streets of Vienna.

In the Maggie Stiefvater novel 'Greywaren', the painting is a very powerful sweetmetal which Bryde at one point attempts to steal.

The painting and its enduring popularity is the subject of an 2023 documentary Klimt & The Kiss directed by Ali Ray. [17] [21]

In Dying Young, Campbell Scott's character talked at length with Julia Roberts' character about how he admired paintings by Gustav Klimt, especially the one titled The Kiss.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gustav Klimt</span> Austrian symbolist painter (1862–1918)

Gustav Klimt was an Austrian symbolist painter and one of the most prominent members of the Vienna Secession movement. Klimt is noted for his paintings, murals, sketches, and other objets d'art. Klimt's primary subject was the female body, and his works are marked by a frank eroticism. Amongst his figurative works, which include allegories and portraits, he painted landscapes. Among the artists of the Vienna Secession, Klimt was the most influenced by Japanese art and its methods.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vienna Secession</span> Group of Austrian artists and architects

The Vienna Secession is an art movement, closely related to Art Nouveau, that was formed in 1897 by a group of Austrian painters, graphic artists, sculptors and architects, including Josef Hoffman, Koloman Moser, Otto Wagner and Gustav Klimt. They resigned from the Association of Austrian Artists in protest against its support for more traditional artistic styles. Their most influential architectural work was the Secession exhibitions hall designed by Joseph Maria Olbrich as a venue for expositions of the group. Their official magazine was called Ver Sacrum, which published highly stylised and influential works of graphic art. In 1905 the group itself split, when some of the most prominent members, including Klimt, Wagner, and Hoffmann, resigned in a dispute over priorities, but it continued to function, and still functions today, from its headquarters in the Secession Building. In its current form, the Secession exhibition gallery is independently led and managed by artists.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Österreichische Galerie Belvedere</span> Museum housed in the Belvedere Palace, in Vienna, Austria

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stoclet Palace</span> Building and UNESCO World Heritage Site by Josef Hoffmann in Brussels, Belgium

The Stoclet Palace is a mansion in Brussels, Belgium. It was designed by the Austrian architect Josef Hoffmann for the Belgian financier Adolphe Stoclet. Built between 1905 and 1911 in the Vienna Secession style, it is located at 279–281, avenue de Tervueren/Tervurenlaan, in the Woluwe-Saint-Pierre municipality of Brussels. Considered Hoffman's masterpiece, the residence is one of the 20th century's most refined and luxurious private houses.

<i>Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I</i> Painting by Gustav Klimt

Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I is an oil painting on canvas, with gold leaf, by Gustav Klimt, completed between 1903 and 1907. The portrait was commissioned by the sitter's husband, Ferdinand Bloch-Bauer, a Viennese and Jewish banker and sugar producer. The painting was stolen by the Nazis in 1941 and displayed at the Österreichische Galerie Belvedere. The portrait is the final and most fully representative work of Klimt's golden phase. It was the first of two depictions of Adele by Klimt—the second was completed in 1912; these were two of several works by the artist that the family owned.

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<i>Klimt University of Vienna Ceiling Paintings</i> Series of paintings made by Gustav Klimt

The Klimt University of Vienna Ceiling Paintings, also known as the Faculty Paintings, were a series of paintings made by Gustav Klimt for the ceiling of the University of Vienna's Great Hall between the years of 1900–1907. In 1894, Klimt was commissioned to paint the ceiling. Upon presenting his paintings, Philosophy, Medicine and Jurisprudence, Klimt came under attack for 'pornography' and 'perverted excess' in the paintings. None of the paintings would go on display in the university.

<i>Beethoven Frieze</i> 1901 painting by Gustav Klimt

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tobias G. Natter</span> Austrian art historian

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Emilie Louise Flöge</span> Austrian designer and model

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<i>Judith and the Head of Holofernes</i> Oil painting by Gustav Klimt

Judith and the Head of Holofernes is an oil painting by Gustav Klimt, painted in 1901. It depicts the biblical figure Judith holding the head of Holofernes after beheading him. The beheading and its aftermath have been commonly portrayed in art since the Renaissance, and Klimt himself would paint a second work depicting the subject in 1909.

<i>Death and Life</i> Painting by Gustav Klimt

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Hope I is an oil painting created by Gustav Klimt in 1903. It is 189 cm x 67 cm and currently located in the National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa. The main subject of this work is a pregnant, nude female. She is holding her hands together above her stomach and close to her chest. She gazes directly at the viewer and has a great mass of hair with a crown of forget-me-not flowers placed on her head. The scene is beautiful upon first glance but once the viewer's eyes move to the background, deathlike figures become noticeably present.

<i>The Three Ages of Woman</i> (Klimt) Painting by Gustav Klimt

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<i>Hope II</i> Painting by Gustav Klimt

Hope II is an oil-on-canvas painting with added gold and platinum by the Austrian symbolist artist Gustav Klimt, made in 1907–08, depicting a pregnant woman with closed eyes. It was the second of Klimt's works to focus on a pregnant woman, both depicting Herma, one of his favourite models. It was entitled Vision by Klimt, but has become known as Hope II after the earlier work Hope, which is now distinguished as Hope I. Hope II was acquired by the Museum of Modern Art in New York City in 1978.

The Kunstschau Wien 1908 was an art and craft exhibition held from June 1 to November 16, 1908, on the grounds of what became the Wiener Konzerthaus in Vienna, Austria. The show was one of dozens of events and festivities marking the 60th anniversary of the reign of Emperor Franz Joseph I. It was organized by Austrian artist Gustav Klimt and the community of avant-garde artists surrounding him, including most notably Koloman Moser, Alfred Roller, Carl Otto Czeschka, Otto Prutscher, and Josef Hoffmann. Despite organizing the workshop, considered to be a groundbreaking showcase of Viennese modernism, Klimt and his colleagues were not invited to the formal, official, celebrations.

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<i>Schloss by the Water</i> Painting by Gustav Klimt

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References

  1. Tobias G. Natter, Benedikt Taschen (2017). Gustav Klimt – The Complete Paintings. Taschen. p. 552. ISBN   978-3-8365-6661-2.
  2. Tobias G. Natter, Benedikt Taschen (2017). Gustav Klimt - The Complete Paintings. Taschen. p. 552. ISBN   978-3-8365-6661-2.
  3. "Gustav Klimt and Vienna around 1900". Belvedere Gallery.
  4. Cavallaro, Dani (2018). Gustav Klimt: A Critical Reappraisal. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland. p. 79. ISBN   9781476631387.
  5. 1 2 Kunstschau Wien (1908) (1908). Provisorischer Katalog der Kunstschau Wien 1908. Getty Research Institute. [Vienna : s.n.]{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  6. Editorial, The Artist (25 May 2020). "10 Most Famous Paintings by Gustav Klimt". The Artist. Retrieved 25 February 2024.
  7. "Gustav Klimt's 10 Most Notable Artworks". TheCollector. 5 February 2023. Retrieved 25 February 2024.
  8. Aberdeen, Shane (2 October 2022). "The 26 Most Famous Portraits of Women – Ranked! [ICONIC ART ONLY]". Ranking Diva. Retrieved 24 January 2023.
  9. Klimt by Gilles Neret, 57
  10. Puchko, Kristy (8 June 2015). "15 Things You Should Know About Klimt's The Kiss". Mental Floss . New York City: Dennis Publishing. Retrieved 29 October 2019.
  11. Private Life of a Masterpiece, BBC TV
  12. Vives Chillida, Julio (2008). El beso (los enamorados) de Gustav Klimt. Un ensayo de iconografía. Lulu. ISBN   978-1-4092-0530-2.
  13. Inscribed on the reverse of the 1899 Nuda Veritas. See Schwartz, 29
  14. Tate. "Gustav Klimt and the 1908 Kunstschau: Gustav Klimt and the 1908 Kunstschau – Tate Etc". Tate. Retrieved 17 November 2019.
  15. "100th Anniversary of Gustav Klimt And The Kunstschau 1908 at Belvedere in Vienna". artdaily.cc. Retrieved 17 November 2019.
  16. Dwyer, Chris (27 February 2018). "Gustav Klimt and his enduring 'Kiss'". CNN Style . Atlanta, Georgia: Turner Broadcasting Systems . Retrieved 21 March 2018.
  17. 1 2 Pulver, Andrew (25 October 2023). "Klimt & The Kiss review – deep dive into the celebrated erotic masterpiece". The Guardian. Retrieved 25 October 2023.
  18. "Syrian Artist Pays Homage to Gustav Klimt's 'The Kiss'". Time. 6 February 2013.
  19. Nichol, Joseph McGinty, director. This Means War. 20th Century Fox, 2012.
  20. "Elfen Lied Opening HD 720p Creditless [Lilium] – YouTube". www.youtube.com. Archived from the original on 14 December 2021. Retrieved 29 July 2020.
  21. "Klimt & The Kiss". Klimt & The Kiss. Seventh Art Productions. Retrieved 25 October 2023.

Sources