The Kiss

From Klimt's shimmering 'Golden Phase,' two lovers embrace wrapped in a single robe of gold leaf and ornament, kneeling at the edge of a flowered meadow. The dense patterning dissolves their bodies into pure decorative surface. It is the most celebrated image of love in modern art.

The Kiss

Gustav Klimt

  • Date1907–08
  • MovementSymbolism
  • WhereBelvedere, Vienna
  • RegionCentral Europe