The Kiss
Artist: Gustav Klimt
Year Composed: 1908
Artistic Movement: Romanticism
Nationality: Austria
Floor Found in Château: Unknown Location
Year Composed: 1908
Artistic Movement: Romanticism
Nationality: Austria
Floor Found in Château: Unknown Location
About the Artwork
Comparable to Auguste Rodin's The Kiss (1882), the scene from Gustav Klimt's version of The Kiss harks back to the story of two forbidding lovers from Dante Alighieri's Divine Comedy, where the lovers' lips are close but will never touch while they reside within the Underworld. Instead of showing the cruelty of the Underworld, however, Klimt shows the romantic, intimate nature of the scene of the two lovers. By rendering the painting in this fashion, it seemingly removes the tormenting motif of Dante and the Underworld from the theme of the piece, replacing it with love, desire, intimacy, and romance.
About the Artist
Born within the Austrian Empire, Gustav Klimt was known for the feminine, romantic expressions and figures within his paintings. Working in the Romantic Age of art, Klimt was able to capture the raw feelings and emotions within a scene while, at the same time, sparking the historical nature of the Austrian and Viennese cultures. These characteristics can be seen within his Judith II (1909), the Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I (1907), and his Judith and the Head of Holofernes (1901).
About the Movement
The Kiss was composed in the Romantic Age of art. Romantic art originated in Europe during the end of the 18th Century (or the end of the 1700s), and spread through the middle of the 19th Century (or the 1800s). It emphasizes emotion and feeling of individuals as well as almost glorifying nature and history. Unlike the Baroque and Renaissance where the focus was more Classical in nature, Romantic art focused more on the Medieval, adding sort of a heroic sense to the artworks. Some of the most famous Romantic artists included Eugène Delacroix, J.M.W. Turner, and Francisco Goya.
Location of Original Work of Art: Österreichische Galerie Belvedere, Vienna, Austria
Comparable to Auguste Rodin's The Kiss (1882), the scene from Gustav Klimt's version of The Kiss harks back to the story of two forbidding lovers from Dante Alighieri's Divine Comedy, where the lovers' lips are close but will never touch while they reside within the Underworld. Instead of showing the cruelty of the Underworld, however, Klimt shows the romantic, intimate nature of the scene of the two lovers. By rendering the painting in this fashion, it seemingly removes the tormenting motif of Dante and the Underworld from the theme of the piece, replacing it with love, desire, intimacy, and romance.
About the Artist
Born within the Austrian Empire, Gustav Klimt was known for the feminine, romantic expressions and figures within his paintings. Working in the Romantic Age of art, Klimt was able to capture the raw feelings and emotions within a scene while, at the same time, sparking the historical nature of the Austrian and Viennese cultures. These characteristics can be seen within his Judith II (1909), the Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I (1907), and his Judith and the Head of Holofernes (1901).
About the Movement
The Kiss was composed in the Romantic Age of art. Romantic art originated in Europe during the end of the 18th Century (or the end of the 1700s), and spread through the middle of the 19th Century (or the 1800s). It emphasizes emotion and feeling of individuals as well as almost glorifying nature and history. Unlike the Baroque and Renaissance where the focus was more Classical in nature, Romantic art focused more on the Medieval, adding sort of a heroic sense to the artworks. Some of the most famous Romantic artists included Eugène Delacroix, J.M.W. Turner, and Francisco Goya.
Location of Original Work of Art: Österreichische Galerie Belvedere, Vienna, Austria