Vienna Secession · 1908-1909
The Kiss
Two figures meet inside a field of gold and pattern. Their bodies almost vanish into the decorated surface around them.
- Made
- 1908-1909
- Style
- Vienna Secession
- Collection
- Upper Belvedere, Vienna
From museum to game table
The in-game crop
The card adds paint spaces, rewards and a frame. This crop shows the artwork area used during play, without the card rails.
The short history
What happened here?
Klimt made The Kiss near the end of his golden phase. He had studied Byzantine mosaics in Ravenna and used gold leaf to collapse the space between painting, icon and ornament.
The Belvedere bought the work in 1908 before Klimt had fully completed it. That quick purchase was a sharp change from the public battles that surrounded some of his earlier commissions.
Squares and hard edges cover the man's robe. Circles and flowers soften the woman's dress. The couple kneels at the edge of a flowered ledge, which gives the embrace a quiet sense of risk.
Look closer
Three details worth finding
- 1Gold leaf that changes with the light
- 2Different patterns assigned to each figure
- 3The narrow edge beneath the woman's feet
Sources
Read further
Museum records come first. Wikipedia and Wikimedia Commons provide useful public background and image records.