The Kiss, Gustav Klimt

Gustav Klimt is perhaps Austria's most famous modern artist. He lived mostly before WWI and the Age of Anxiety, but I believe his paintings, and the Secessionist movement, are important in the developments of European art that we studied in class. In fact, like Picasso and Dada, Klimt employs geometric shapes to depict all but the faces, hands, and feet of the two figures. The flowery field at the bottom is two-dimensional, which is another characteristic of modern art. Not only does Klimt use bright colors, he uses gold. Actually, gold leaf is used on their clothing and the background!
This is one of my favorite paintings. Klimt is known for his eroticism, but I do not choose to interpret it as an erotic painting. It is sweet, serene, and tender--just look at her face. For some reason, the bottom green part, perhaps the striking contrast of the purple flowers with the green and gold, always catches my eye. I had the pleasure and opportunity of seeing this painting in person this summer when I was in Vienna. It is at the Belvedere, an old summer palace of Prince Eugene, an Austrian army officer, which now houses modern art. This is one of the most famous paintings in Austria--this and Klimt's portrait of Adele Bloch-bauer. The image is plastered over every imaginable tourist souvenir--mugs, calendars, ties, even teddy-bears.