The Kiss (Lovers) – Works – Sammlung Online

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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.

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Belvedere, Oberes Belvedere, 1. Obergeschoß (Ost), Raum NO3
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The Kiss (Lovers)
Date1908 (finished 1909)

Künstler*in Gustav Klimt (1862 Wien – 1918 Wien)

ULAN

Object typeGemälde
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.

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Exhibitions

1908 Ankauf vom Künstler auf der Kunstschau, Wien

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