Each work tells a story. A story that perhaps does not concern us closely or a story that on the contrary belongs to us. For me it is so with the work of today. A golden kiss that drags me into another dimension. What attracts me may be the museum, therefore the physical place that hosts it: the Belvedere in Vienna, where I have been many many times and which I love. Or it can be that abstract place that belongs to us during a kiss. I am Clelia and today we discover Gustav Klimt's Kiss from 1907. The video is divided into various sections so if you are interested in one of these specifically I suggest you go to the minute you are interested in and find all the sections also in description. This mixture of sensuality and richness of this work tells the whole essence of Gustav Klimt's work. In fact, Klimt is fascinated as much by the theme of the sensuality of women in particular as by the theme of the human embrace and returns to it in several works, but this is probably the most famous. In the center of the canvas a man and a woman find themselves embraced. He on the left holds her and caresses her face. She looks rapt, with her eyes closed. In fact, the couple is very close and both protagonists are captured by each other almost unaware of what is happening around them. Together they form a real shape at the center of the work. And they are wrapped in a golden covering that emphasizes their union and protects them from the outside world. They wear very particular and somewhat colorful clothes . And they hug each other on a patch of green lawn that makes the scene even more delicate and that makes us wonder if they have realized that they are risking falling off the cliff behind them at any moment. What many have wondered is whether Klimt is perhaps suggesting that both love and passion are precarious, and possibly dangerous. The Kiss, however, does not seem like a passionate kiss, more a serene kiss, between two lovers who are not only overwhelmed by passion but who have a very sincere feeling for each other. In fact, he wraps her with his firm, large and gnarled hands . And she lets herself be kidnapped, in ecstasy. The dress of the woman on the right is in strong contrast with that of the man. The golden decoration is mostly composed of small circular shapes connected by thin wavy lines. However, the most interesting features of her dress are the large, very brightly colored washers , each containing a series of smaller circles. This is a reference to the flowers found at the feet of the two lovers. Some areas in the lower part of the woman's dress also seem to represent stylized petals. This abundant use of flowers has been read by many as a symbol of fertility. Man's clothing, on the other hand, is decorated with very simple shapes, rectangular, in black, white or silver. These geometric shapes are specially designed to refer to masculine attributes and to contrast with the circles and curves of the woman's dress. In many works, Klimt creates the hands and feet in an almost coarse way. Often large and disproportionate to other parts of the body or very gnarled. This detail in his works is certainly influenced by the expressionist style that is emerging in those years. In this case, the detail of the woman's feet is quite ambiguous. It is not clear whether the fingers are in this position to hold onto the ground and avoid falling. Or if on the contrary they are so because of the passion of the kiss. Another of the themes of Klimt's works that we also find in this one is the landscape. In fact, Klimt in some of his writings tells of relaxing a lot by painting them. And his landscapes are by no means standard and conventional. In fact, he focuses mainly on areas full of flowers and bright and vibrant colors. The inspiration for these landscapes comes from his studio garden, which allows him to see nature with his own eyes and be able to represent it in his own style. But some works are also reminiscent of the floral decorations found in some tapestries. In Klimt's Kiss, the area full of flowers at the feet of the two lovers seems to be their happy island. A splash of color that blends perfectly with the gold of their clothes and that makes the atmosphere of the work much lighter . The interesting thing is that in its own way, due to the choice of flowers, this garden looks as unreal as the golden background. And speaking of background, Klimt likes to intensify the impact of his works through the setting. In this case it uses a variety of precious materials in different processes. An almost shimmering and somewhat grainy effect is created in the background. This is thanks to the fact that it creates several layers of leaf and gold dust. For the material effect of the dresses of the two lovers, Klimt first models some of the plaster motifs and then paints them in gold. In my opinion it is brilliant because it makes the sense of matter just slightly when you see it in person. But the question that in my opinion we all have at least once seeing this work live, on posters, on bags everywhere is but who are these two? The main protagonists of the work are undoubtedly the man and the woman. The man's face is almost completely hidden. But he remains a manly figure thanks to the representation of this robust aspect of his. It has a very broad and powerful neck and huge hands compared to the woman's body. He wears a crown, a crown of ivy which is a sacred plant in mythology and associated with the Greek god Dionysus and all his followers, the satyrs. These symbols associate his figure with the concepts of virility and lust. On the contrary, we have said that the woman receives the kiss almost in ecstasy. Her eyes are closed and she is captured by the atmosphere. With his arm he wraps the man and compared to him he has a lighter and almost gray complexion. This suggests that Klimt was inspired by the theme of the severed head, which was widespread in Symbolist art of the period. So widespread that only a few years earlier in 1901 Klimt had painted his Judith with the severed head of Holofernes. However, there are many hypotheses about the protagonists of the work. There are those who see Zeus and Era on Mount Olympus from which the descendants of the Gods are generated. There are those who instead in the two lovers on this cliff see the transformation of the nymph Daphne after the kiss of Apollo. The models in reality appear to be Gustav Klimt himself and his partner Emilie Floge. But since there don't seem to be any archival documents to confirm this, some scholars have speculated that the woman is instead the same model as Danae. I have placed next to the Kiss the photo of Floge and Klimt's Danae, in my opinion it is true that she looks like Danae for the color of her hair and the cut of her eyes but she is more like Floge. Let me know what you think in the comments. However, Gustav Klimt's Kiss is a kiss that tells of that moment in which we feel out of time and which for this reason has become an icon of that non-place that we all live or hope to experience at least once in our life. Influentially, the kiss was made at the height of Klimt 's career and at a time when he draws on a wide range of motifs and movements. It reflects the Art Nouveau taste, which is the main style of the works of Klimt of the period and of the group of artists of the Viennese Secession. Art Nouveau is characterized by a preference for stylized forms and sinuous motifs, but above all for decoration and less for the realism of representation. Also, in this work both lovers are wrapped in gold like medieval icons. A characteristic gold of the period of Gustav Klimt 's production following his visit to Ravenna in 1903. This gold in the guise of man combines with the black of the vertical geometries. And in the woman's dress, on the other hand, it becomes curved, colored and made of spirals. Just to underline how the union is born from the difference of the two. If you have made it this far, welcome to the #arteclub for all art lovers who want to find out more about the work or artist of the day. Leave a comment below with the hashtag #arteclub and get ready to discover the gem of today's video. The theme of the Kiss spreads between the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century thanks to great artists such as Munch. And it is often used to describe and represent in this period the idea of femme fatale, a sensual woman who conquers the man. In the case of Gustav Klimt's The Kiss, however, this does not happen. In fact, Klimt represents the woman in an almost passive position, she is receiving the hug and the kiss with great passion. Despite this, however, the mysterious environment puts the scene very much in line with the spirit of the symbolism of the period. In any case there are also other great examples such as Hayez's Kiss in the three versions with different clothes, or those of Rodin in sculpture or still sculpture that Brancusi which was made in the same year as that of Klimt and yet it is so different. Then finally there have been many interpretations of the theme in the twentieth century and in contemporary art. For example, Jeff Koons who has just taken Klimt's Kiss by inserting his pop touch. Or the version of one of my favorite female artists Tracy Emin with her neon which just says the kiss was gorgeous and leaves the rest to the imagination. Or in the 90s the photograph that became famous by Rodney Smith set in New York with the elegant couple kissing in a car in the middle of rows of yellow taxis. And there would be many other really interesting ones. And if you liked this video in which we discover something more about the most famous kiss in the history of art, leave a like and subscribe to the channel to not miss the next videos on the most interesting works of art in history. I also advise you to take a look at my video on why study art history or the one on the 20 works that have made history in the last twenty years .. Thanks and see you next time!