The Kiss
By Gustav Klimt, 1907
Two lovers wrapped in shimmering gold lean into a tender embrace, lost in their own private world. This is "The Kiss," painted by Austrian artist Gustav Klimt between 1907 and 1908, during what people now call his "Golden Period." Klimt actually used real gold leaf in the painting, a technique he picked up from the glittering Byzantine mosaics he saw on a trip to Italy. Look closely and you will notice the man's robe is covered in bold black and white rectangles, while the woman's is decorated with soft, colorful flowers. It is a clever way of showing two people as different yet completely joined together.
The couple kneels at the edge of a flowery meadow, and that golden background makes them seem to float somewhere timeless. Nobody knows for certain who the models were, though some believe the woman is Emilie Flöge, Klimt's lifelong companion and close friend. When the painting was first shown, the Austrian government bought it almost immediately, even before it was finished. That was a big deal, especially since Klimt's earlier work had often stirred up controversy for being too daring.
Today "The Kiss" hangs in the Belvedere museum in Vienna and remains one of the most beloved paintings in the world. Part of its charm is how it captures something we all understand, that quiet, warm feeling of being close to someone you love.