--- title: Top 10 Paintings | 'The Kiss' by Gustav Klimt description: "Art of Fine Gifts: In this week's blog, we look at Klimt's famous 'The Kiss' painting." image: https://blog.flametreepublishing.com/hubfs/The_Kiss-1.jpg --- - [Home](https://info.flametreepublishing.com/blog) | - [ Contact & About Us](https://blog.flametreepublishing.com/contact-us) T H E   F L A M E   T R E E   B L O G ![Hubspot_Header_Layers-2.jpg](https://blog.flametreepublishing.com/hubfs/Hubspot_Header_Layers-2.jpg "Hubspot_Header_Layers-2.jpg") # Visual & Decorative Arts Blog # Top 10 Paintings | 'The Kiss' by Gustav Klimt Posted by [Laura Bulbeck](https://blog.flametreepublishing.com/art-of-fine-gifts/author/laura-bulbeck) - [Tweet](https://twitter.com/share) One of the founders of the Vienna Secession movement, Gustav Klimt (1862–1918) is often regarded as the greatest painter of the Art Nouveau period. *The Kiss* (1907–08), possibly Klimt's most famous work, is a shining example of his ‘**golden phase**’. Klimt had experimented with using gold in some of his earlier works, such as *Pallas Athene* (1898) and *Judith I* (1901), but he now started to use increasingly **sumptuous ornamentation** on a regular basis.![The_Kiss-1.jpg](https://blog.flametreepublishing.com/hs-fs/hubfs/The_Kiss-1.jpg?width=286&name=The_Kiss-1.jpg)Lovers Embrace *The Kiss* achieves a balance between **emotion and ornamentation**. The lovers are encased in an embrace of golden fabric. The man is decorated in the **cold colours** and **geometrical angular patterns** that symbolize masculinity; the kneeling female is represented in **warm colours** by **swirls and circles**, the symbols of femininity. Together they create a **harmonious whole**. ### A New Aesthetic When Klimt and his colleagues formed the** Vienna Secession** in 1897 they were announcing a formal separation from the traditional, academic art in favour of **highly decorative styles**. This aesthetic conformed to the European-wide **Art Nouveau** movement, which sought unity in the applied arts. The development of Secessionism reflected a profound historical and ideological revolution that characterized the ***fin-de-siècle***. In Vienna **Sigmund Freud**’s (1856–1939) analytical methods of exploring the subconscious were topical and Klimt’s intensely experimental, controversial work explored the **subconscious and emotional impulses** and desires. Klimt’s extraordinary **creative energy**, **expressive use of line** and **dominant use of ornament** captured the **avant-garde** spirit that helped develop the abstract aesthetic that followed. ### ![Kiss_detail.jpg](https://blog.flametreepublishing.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Kiss_detail.jpg?width=150&name=Kiss_detail.jpg)Key Information Medium: Oil and gold on canvas Dimensions: 180 x 180 cm (71 x 71 in) Location: Österreichische Galerie Belvedere, Vienna *If you love this sumptuous Art Nouveau masterpiece as much as we do, then you're in luck! You can buy a beautiful [foiled journal](http://flametreepublishing.com/Klimt.-Kiss.-Foiled-Journal.html), [foiled pocket journal](http://flametreepublishing.com/Klimts-The-Kiss-Foiled-Pocket-Journal.html) or [foiled sketchbook](http://flametreepublishing.com/Gustav-Klimt--The-Kiss-Blank-Sketch-Book.html); as well as an [iPhone 5 case](http://flametreepublishing.com/Flame-Tree-iPhone-Case-The-Kiss.html), all with this beautiful image on.* ### Links - [Here's an article](http://mentalfloss.com/article/64727/15-things-you-should-know-about-klimts-kiss) with 15 things you should know about *The Kiss*. - The Austrian mint have honoured Klimt's The Kiss by putting it on a €50 coin. [See here](http://www.coinworld.com/news/world-coins/2016/03/austrian-mint-concludes-program-honoring-artist-gustav-klimt.html#). - Many of Klimt's 'golden phase' pieces have been brought to life incredibly with live models by photographer Inge Prader. [See them here](http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/gustav-klimt-golden-phase-recreations_us_56265cd4e4b02f6a900de4f6). **Check out all of the** **Top 10 Paintings blog posts!** - Top 10 Paintings | 1 | [*The Kiss* by Gustav Klimt](https://blog.flametreepublishing.com/art-of-fine-gifts/top-10-paintings-the-kiss-by-gustav-klimt) - Top 10 Paintings | 2 | [*Composition VII* by Wassily Kandinsky](https://blog.flametreepublishing.com/art-of-fine-gifts/top-10-paintings-composition-vii-by-wassily-kandinsky) - Top 10 Paintings | 3 |[*In the Well of the Great Wave of Kanagawa* by Katsushika Hokusai](https://blog.flametreepublishing.com/art-of-fine-gifts/top-10-paintings-in-the-well-of-the-great-wave-of-kanagawa-by-katsushika-hokusai) - Top 10 Paintings | 4 | [*Starry Night Over the Rh**ô**ne* by Vincent Van Gogh](https://blog.flametreepublishing.com/art-of-fine-gifts/top-10-paintings-starry-night-over-the-rh%C3%B4ne-by-vincent-van-gogh) - Top 10 Paintings | 5 | [*The Scream* by Edvard Munch](https://blog.flametreepublishing.com/art-of-fine-gifts/top-10-paintings-the-scream-by-edvard-munch) - Top 10 Paintings | 6 | [*Fighting Temeraire *by J.M.W. Turner](https://blog.flametreepublishing.com/art-of-fine-gifts/top-10-paintings-fighting-temeraire-by-j.m.w.-turner) - Top 10 Paintings | 7 | [*The Persistence of Memory* by Salvador Dali](https://blog.flametreepublishing.com/art-of-fine-gifts/top-10-paintings-the-persistence-of-memory-by-salvador-dal%C3%AD) - Top 10 Paintings | 8 | [*Nighthawks* by Edward Hopper](https://blog.flametreepublishing.com/art-of-fine-gifts/top-10-paintings-nighthawks-by-edward-hopper) - Top 10 Paintings | 9 | [*Water Lillies *by Claude Monet](https://blog.flametreepublishing.com/art-of-fine-gifts/top-10-paintings-water-lilies-by-claude-monet) - Top 10 Paintings | 10 | [*Ophelia* by Sir John Everett Millais](https://blog.flametreepublishing.com/art-of-fine-gifts/top-10-paintings-ophelia-by-sir-john-everett-millais)   Topics: [Gustav Klimt](https://blog.flametreepublishing.com/art-of-fine-gifts/topic/gustav-klimt), [Viennese Secession](https://blog.flametreepublishing.com/art-of-fine-gifts/topic/viennese-secession) ### Subscribe for email updates ### FREE Download [![FREE online magazine here](https://no-cache.hubspot.com/cta/default/293166/284b0214-b58c-42d7-acb5-91f1fcd82c9c.png)](http://cta-redirect.hubspot.com/cta/redirect/293166/284b0214-b58c-42d7-acb5-91f1fcd82c9c) Download a digital magazine, Flame Tree Arts, with a special edition on **Art Deco.** ****![Flame Tree Arts Mag 01 cover resized 171](https://blog.flametreepublishing.com/hs-fs/file-247369099-jpg/images/flame-tree-arts-mag-01-cover-resized-171.jpg) ### About us *The Art of Fine Gifts: *from luxury notebooks, foiled journals, art calendars, iphone cases, books and illustrated ebooks FLAME TREE Combines beautiful detail and exquisite craftsmanship across a range of elegant gifts. ![FLAME-TREE-Hubspot-Head.gif](https://blog.flametreepublishing.com/hs-fs/hub/293166/file-398222920.gif?width=251&height=354&name=file-398222920.gif "FLAME-TREE-Hubspot-Head.gif") ### Stay up to date: ### Subscribe by Email ### Posts by category - 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