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The Kiss (Lovers)

The image depicts a couple embracing. The figures are surrounded by a shiny golden background that is richly adorned. The one figure appears to be wrapped in a magnificent garment decorated with various patterns and floral motifs. Their faces are close together, and their eyes are closed, conveying an intimate and deep connection. The lower part of the image is filled with a lush vegetative depiction.

[AI-generated with ChatGPT]
The Kiss (Lovers)
The image depicts a couple embracing. The figures are surrounded by a shiny golden background that is richly adorned. The one figure appears to be wrapped in a magnificent garment decorated with various patterns and floral motifs. Their faces are close together, and their eyes are closed, conveying an intimate and deep connection. The lower part of the image is filled with a lush vegetative depiction.

[AI-generated with ChatGPT]
Gustav Klimt, Der Kuss (Liebespaar), 1908 (vollendet 1909), Figuraler Bereich: Blattgold, Blattsilber, Blattplatin, Ölharzfarben, auf grundierter Leinwand. – Hintergrund: Schlagmetall (Messing), mit Lasuren übermalt, Blattmetallflocken gestreut, 180 × 180 cm, Belvedere, Wien, Inv.-Nr. 912
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  • The Kiss (Lovers)

  • Date1908 (finished 1909)
  • Künstler*in Gustav Klimt (1862 Wien – 1918 Wien)
  • Object typePainting
  • MediumFigures: gold leaf, silver leaf, platinum leaf, resin oil colors on primed canvas (zinc paint). – Background: Composition gold (brass), glazed, flakes of metal leaf
  • Dimensions
    180 × 180 cm
  • SignatureSigned bottom right: GVSTAV / KLIMT
  • Inventory number912
  • Locations Belvedere, Upper Belvedere, 1. Floor (east), Room NO3

  • “The Kiss”, probably Klimt’s most famous work, was painted at the height of his Golden Period without a direct commission. It shows a couple, melting into one, at the edge of a meadow of flowers. Only the different patterning of the robes distinguishes their bodies that are enveloped in a shimmering

    golden halo. Klimt actually used real gold leaf, silver, and platinum in his picture. He presumably started work on it in 1907 and exhibited the painting at the Kunstschau in June the following

    year under the title “Lovers”. From this show, the Ministry of Art purchased it for the Modern Gallery—now the Belvedere—for a price that was high even then. In autumn 1909, a catalogue of this museum cited the work for the first time as “The Kiss”, the title by which it is world famous today.