The Kiss

The Kiss by Gustav Klimt is one of his most famous and most expensive pieces of art to have ever been sold. It's popularity is perhaps due to the painting's effective transformation of a simple human act of compassion into a work of art that encompasses much more than just a simple kiss between a man and a woman. The Kiss painting was created with conventional oil paint as well as modern gold leaf, giving it an extra distinct and contemporary quality. Klimt's use of both modern and classic tools to create The Kiss painting echoes the equally contrasting theme of the painting itself.

Klimt The Kiss features two figures (a man and a woman) placed at the edge of a meadow covered in flowers. The man in the painting is featured wearing a gold garment with faint spirals and decorated in a seemingly random pattern with black and white rectangles. He also wears a crown of leaves. The woman in the painting appears to be juxtaposed with the man, with round and wavy designs on her dress and flowers in her hair and around her neck.

The couple is depicted in a passionate embrace that is emphasized in bright, vibrant golds while the rest of the background blends into a darker, shimmering tone. Resembling the work of modernists such as Edgar Degas, the painting experiments with both two and three dimensional styles. Experts such as writer Frank Whitford have pointed out the underlying sexual nature apparent in Klimt The Kiss by referencing the suggestive shape that the man and the woman make together. Based on the erotic themes present in Klimt's previous work, it's not surprising that images evoking liberation through eroticism would also surface in this painting.

The gold background that the couple shares in the kiss represents the timelessness and unity that a kiss can evoke while the background fades away. The image also represents a sense of ecstasy that is often provoked by a single kiss between two people. The fact that the man's face in the image is unseen while the woman has her head turned with a look of passion indicates that the man is the dominant party in the embrace while the woman is willfully submitting.

Although most interpreters view the woman's role in this painting as willfully submissive, others have argued that she is turning away from the kiss but is unable to escape from the man's embrace. The Kiss painting may also be depicting the woman as a kind of lascivious seductress that provoked the man's dominating approach to the act.

Although the couple each depicts very distinct imagery, they often balance one another in their distinct characteristics. For example, the man's garment features a very poised pattern of contrasting black and white rectangles, while the woman's garment features multi-colored oval and circular shaped patterns. These images are also reminiscent of male and female figures and characteristics. The woman has golden roots connecting her to the ground, while the man has rabbits at his feet which are benefiting from the nourishment provided by mother nature.

The symbolism present in these images indicate that the man and woman each have distinct characteristics that, though very different from one another, allow them to feel whole and complete as a couple. The balanced connection between the two in The Kiss by Gustav Klimt is the quintessential example of what love is. In a sense, the man and the woman depicted in The Kiss by Gustav Klimt can be interpreted to have a sort of yin and yang relationship that appears to contrast from a far, but upon closer examination actually fits together perfectly.