By Miranda Waters

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Growing up I always remember The Kiss (1907-1908) by Gustav Klimt being one of my mother’s favorite paintings. It’s extravagant in all its gold and detail so it was obvious to me why that would be a favorite of hers, but I never thought much more about it. That is until I saw it in person and gave it time to move me. This past week in Vienna, Austria I have seen lots of beautiful, powerful works of art but none have quite inspired me the way Klimt’s works The Kiss and Death and Life (1908-1915) have. Their lavishness and boldness for their time aside, they depict the two most questioned and considered elements to life: love and mortality. 

Who is Gustav Klimt?

Gustav Klimt was born in 1862 in Vienna’s 14th district, Baumgarten. Klimt started painting at an early age and attended Vienna’s School of Applied Arts at age 14. Because of this his early work falls under the category of neoclassicism, a period recalling on classical antiquity (the work is proportionate and idealized). It wasn’t until the early 1900’s that he found his personal style exemplifying Art Nouveau and began his fascination with painting female figures, typically rather provocatively. This was frowned upon and he became controversial for things like his many love affairs (and never marrying) and 14 illegitimate children. His University of Vienna ceiling paintings were even decommissioned for images such as using a nude Hygieia with the Aesculapian snake wrapped around her to symbolize medicine and health. After this Klimt remarked:  “I’ve had enough of censorship … I reject all state support, I don’t want any of it.” With this sentiment he started the Vienna Succession movement and the Klimt that is known and loved today was born.

The Kiss (1907-1908)

The Kiss is a densely inspired and passionate work of art. Klimt’s trip to Ravenna, Italy where he saw the lack of dimension in figures and extravagant gilded detailing in Byzantine mosaics shows heavily in The Kiss. This painting is also a breakaway from painting what you see and rather, painting what you feel. The painting is a mix of many eras and art styles: Impressionism, Art Nouveau, Japanese prints, and of course Byzantine mosaics. The female has the circles that allude to his Tree of Life (1905), a symbol he often used for themes like women, everchanging seasons, and flowers. These circles are a perfect foil for the man whose robe is made up of rectangles which give him an edge rather than the flow and elegance of the female’s robe. Another notable quality about the female’s dress is that it’s loose fitting which could be a reference to Emilie Flöge. Emilie Flöge, Klimt’s sister-in-law’s sister and a long-term unfulfilled love of his, was a fashion designer who was a part of the Victorian dress reform which focused on loose fitting garments as a feminist statement. 

The Kiss has many interpretations. One popular for the time it was painted is that it was just another of his lustful and provocative representations of sex and desire, even labeled pornographic. Klimt certainly has his works that show his admiration for the female form and struggle with sexual desire, like his work Judith (1901), but I do not think that The Kiss is one of them. Some believe that the female figure is one of his sitters, Red Hilda, that he had an affair with. Some believe that the painting is supposed to be of Apollo and Daphne from the Greek myth Metamorphoses. Still others believe that it is supposed to be Orpheus embracing Eurydice right before he loses her, but I believe it to be Emilie Flöge. To me this painting is not showing a desire for sex but a desire for a love that he could never fully clutch. The female figure is slipping away from the male, almost off of this cliff. The male figure is grounded (the rectangular shapes ground him) the female figure gently grasping around his neck for support. They are encompassed by a gold orb made up of spirals, often used in Celtic tradition as a symbol for eternity. The background is celestial, isolating them in this eternal love. The man embraces, her face gentle and soft, she is elated, blushing, awaiting his kiss. It is a moment frozen in time; a moment Klimt could never find himself in. The gold vines wrapped around her ankles and legs desperately try and ground her with him. This is more than physical, it’s intimate and romantic. 

Death and Life (1908-1915)

I struggled more with trying to interpret Death and Life. The first thing that stood out to me was the personification of death, standing alone grinning almost eagerly in anticipation at the cluster of the living. Klimt has personified him as a human skeleton which I find to be significant making him more real and tangible. He is blue and cool toned which other artists like Pablo Picasso have used in their work to indicate an outcast or a figure feeling melancholy. Death does not have the typical empty black look in his eyes that skeletons are usually depicted with but he has this soulless snake-like stare in his eyes. We see another foil with his figures here: the black crosses opposing the vibrant colored flowers in Life. In Life we can see three stages of the life cycleㄧ a couple, a mother with her child, and an old praying womanㄧ being watched over by the ever-looming Death. You can even see hints of blue tones in the skin of the figures of Life showing the inevitability of death (the least amount of cool tones can be seen in the infant). In Life there are mostly female figures and blooming flowers to represent the beauty and preciousness of Life itself. There is only one figure with its eyes open and that is the woman to the farthest left (of the viewer) of Life. She also has this snake-like stare in her eyes and she is seemingly melting away which makes me wonder if maybe she is closest to death. There are multiple figures which have almost completely disappeared, could Death have already clutched them? The couple looks distraught, as though they are mourning, clinging onto one another for support, the old woman praying over them like a protector. The only figure that looks blissful and content is the mother. This is where I get confused on what exactly could be happening within Life. Perhaps the mother is content because she has just given life, feeling untouchable and unconquerable by Death. When looking at the painting as a whole, I do not see it as message to fear Death but more as an acceptance and a reminder of how invaluable and delicate Life is. 

These paintings moved me in unexpected ways. I sat and admired them and then I had to circle back and admire them a second time. They inspired conversations with myself that were new and eye-opening. To me this is the beauty of art; not only does it teach you something new about the artist, or the world, but it shows you parts of yourself that you never even knew were there. Fears and desires that you’ve dismissed surface and a fantastic piece of art guides you to bring you to a solution. 

References

“Death and Life.” Death and Life by Gustav Klimt, https://www.gustavklimt.net/death-and-life/. 

Stanska, Zuzanna. “Masterpiece Story: Death and Life by Gustav Klimt.” DailyArt Magazine, 8 July 2022, https://www.dailyartmagazine.com/gustav-klimt-death-and-life/. 

“Emilie Louise Flöge.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 28 Apr. 2022, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emilie_Louise_Fl%C3%B6ge. 

Artincontext. “The Kiss Gustav Klimt – An Analysis of Klimt’s Painting, ‘The Kiss.’” Artincontext.org, 8 Mar. 2022, https://artincontext.org/the-kiss-gustav-klimt/. 

“Klimt University of Vienna Ceiling Paintings.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 24 Mar. 2022, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Klimt_University_of_Vienna_Ceiling_Paintings. 

“Art Nouveau Movement Overview.” The Art Story, https://www.theartstory.org/movement/art-nouveau/. 

Artsy. “Art Collector Insights: Inflation, Online Purchasing, and New Collectors.” Artsy, 16 Sept. 2022, https://www.artsy.net/article/artsy-editorial-art-collector-insights-inflation-online-purchasing-new-collectors. “Art History Timeline: Western Art Movements and Their Impact.” Invaluable, 7 Apr. 2021, https://www.invaluable.com/blog/art-history-timeline/.