Gustav Klimt was an Austrian symbolic painter who enjoyed great reputation for his contribution to the foundation of Vienna Secession.
Klimt was the leader of Vienna Secession. Gustav Klimt stressed individual aesthetic interest, emotional expression and imaginary creation in painting. His works combined the philosophical aspect of symbolism painting with Oriental decorative taste. The symbol of potential mysticism color, rich and bright adornment effect add a strong personality temperament to the painting. This painting style has made a great and far-reaching influence on painting art and poster design. Klimt's works promoted poster art taste and value, making him famous all over the world.
The kiss
The famous painting The Kiss is one of his masterpieces. As we can see from the painting, golden yellow dominates the whole color style. And it was an obvious feature of his works at his golden age. At this period of time, he was used to decorate his paintings with gold and silver foil, which was a typical Persian, Greece and Byzantine Mosaic decoration gout.
Generally speaking, women are the main characters in his paintings. And the main themes are love, sex, the cycle of birth and death and so on. Actually, what The Kiss wants to convey is not a specific love to someone but a common sense of human beings: sexual love to the opposite sex.
Perceptual line, statuesque pose and decent finery magnificently create a wonderful, highly ornamental dream world. Dressed in finery, surrounded by colorful flowers, the man in the painting closely hugs and affectionately kisses his lover, expressing an overwhelming carnality feeling. From what is portrayed in the painting, we can feel the intimacy and strong desire of sexual love between the lovers. Klimt delicately arranged the structure, setting, line and color to reveal the obscure and mysterious lust.
Another masterpiece by Klimt at his golden age is called Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I. It is the other one that can compete with The Kiss.
- Portrait Of Adele Bloch Bauer I
