The Kiss
by KLIMT, Gustav, Oil on canvas, 180 x 180 cm
The first version of the portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer (1907) marks the height of Klimt’s gold-encrusted manner of painting, of which The Kiss is the other outstanding example.
The background of The Kiss consists of gold swirls; gold discs and coloured, geometric patterns cover the couple’s robes. The realistic treatment of their partly visible heads and the woman’s right hand balances the abstract patterns which dominate the composition.