Oil Paintings Reproductions

About The Artist - Gustav Klimt (July 14, 1862 - February 6, 1918)

Gustav Klimt was a well-known Austrian Symbolist painter. He was also one of the most famous founding members of what is known as the Vienna Art Nouveau (Vienna Secession) movement.

About The Painting - The Kiss Yellow

The Kiss Yellow, originally called Der Kuss, was painted by Gustav in 1907 to 1908 and is arguably his most famous painting. The painting in true style of this master depicts a couple covered in gold and symbols sharing a passionate kiss. The couple has been painted against an ordinary background.

The Kiss is a visually appealing work from an Art Nouveau master that has been subject to numerous interpretations. Typically, what can be seen is a man standing but bending down to kiss the woman who is kneeling down on an area covered with flowers, as if getting into position to accept the kiss, but not really participating in the lovemaking actively.

The gold shrouding for the man is full of rectangular shapes mostly in black and white. The woman's cover is made of dots in different colors, probably depicting bunches of flowers.

Here are a few of the most popular interpretations of The Kiss Yellow:

• Many believe that the gold cover commonly shared by the subjects of the painting and the bland background conjure the eternal union of two bodies that a kiss can stimulate.

• Another common interpretation is the painting is a fine example of the feelings experienced when two people share their first kiss - beautiful, exciting, and golden.

• The Kiss Yellow has also been interpreted as if the man in the painting is lost in the kiss, but the woman is "unmoved" by the kiss and so turns her head away from it.

• Gustav's Kiss can also be perceived as a symbol of submission by the woman to the man and share a moment of sexual ecstasy that is a treasured experience.

• There is also this belief that Gustav and his beloved Emilie Floge had acted as models for this classic masterpiece.

The Kiss Yellow is not the signature style of Gustav Klimt as he is known for painting powerful and strikingly beautiful women much like Pallas Athene (1898).

The Kiss does manage to evoke strong feelings of passion, desire and want that are hallmarks of any true love relationship between a man and a woman.