The world’s most famous kiss is not a real one but one in art. Perhaps the artist painted it based on a real one, perhaps not. But Gustav’s Klimt’s interpretation of that kiss, whether real or conceived in his mind, makes it extraordinary.
Music and art do not become famous overnight, like a viral video on the Internet. They take time; art more than music. But once they do, art’s shelf life on the top of the charts is way longer than a hit music number.
The Kiss by the Austrian master has achieved that fame, and is now the centerpiece of the collection at the Belvedere museum in Vienna.
I happened to be in the Austrian capital on Christmas Day in 2024. Since December 24, the streets bore the look of a bandh day in India — hardly anyone was out, and most shops were closed. People prefer to spend the day at home with family and friends during this time. However, the city center and major museums (which remained open) still teemed with tourists.
My cab took only around ten minutes to drop me at the entrance to the museum, thanks to superbly empty roads. I dropped my bag and jacket in the cloakroom (you’re not allowed to enter with those) and took the stairs to the level where the masterpieces are displayed.
Klimt’s square “painted mosaics” (art critic Ludwig Hevesi described his paintings as such) came into view after the first few rooms.
Apart from shaping the genre of portraiture, Gustav Klimt introduced radical innovations in the depiction of landscape and nature. In a virtually square format, often without sky or horizon, the master channels our gaze towards a confined section of landscape. A description at the museum says he occasionally used a telescope to zoom up close to these passages. His landscapes do not unfurl into the distance but emphasize the picture’s surface, which enhances the effect of a flat decorative pattern.
Soon enough, I walked into The Kiss room.
The thing about this masterpiece is that it is instantly recognizable and even if you are not aware of either the painting or the artist, chances are you have come across the painting in some form — perhaps on a cushion cover, or a copy of the original in someone’s home.
“The Kiss… 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,” says the description of the painting at the museum.
“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 his 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,” it adds.
Although The Kiss is the room’s focus, with a perpetual crowd of visitors in front of it, most of whom are taking pictures with the painting, the room also has several other paintings by the Austrian master, including Sunflowers. Eve, a sculpture by François Auguste René Rodin, the French sculptor whose most well-known work is The Thinker, is also on display there.
The museum also displays works by the Norwegian painter, Edvard Munch, whose most famous work is The Scream, and the French artist Claude Monet, a founder of the Impressionism movement and most famous for his oil paintings of water lilies. However, The Chef, a portrait of a famous chef of the time, differs from the typical works Monet is known for.
The cherry on the cake for me was The Plain of Auvers (1890) by Vicent van Gogh, which made my visit to the museum all the more special.
The Belvedere museum is doing a ‘kiss in front of The Kiss’ promotion for Valentine’s Day this year.
“On February 14, from 7 pm to 11 pm, couples can get their picture taken professionally and free of charge in front of Gustav Klimt’s iconic painting The Kiss at the Upper Belvedere. In keeping with the spirit of the most beautiful declaration of love in art history, the event takes place on Valentine’s Day,” an emailed notification from the museum said.
