A painting a day · No. 37 of 38
The Kiss
Gustav Klimt (1862–1918)
1907–1908 · Oil and gold leaf on canvas · Belvedere, Vienna
The story
The high point of Klimt's 'golden period', when he used real gold leaf, like a medieval icon. The Austrian state bought it in 1908, the year it was first shown.
Look closer
- His robe is covered in black and white rectangles; hers in circles and flowers.
- They kneel on a meadow of flowers at the edge of a cliff.
- Her toes curl over the edge.
Did you know
The canvas is square: 180 by 180 centimetres.
Why we can show it
Gustav Klimt died in 1918. UK copyright lasts for the artist’s life plus 70 years, so even under today’s rules this painting would have been free for anyone to show since 1989. The photograph is a faithful copy of a flat work, which creates no new copyright. We do not store the picture: it comes from Wikimedia Commons each time it is needed. More on this.