1909, Gustav Klimt, The Kiss (Lovers) -- Belvedere Palace (Vienna)
From the museum label: The Kiss, probably Klimt's most famous work, was painted at the height of his Golden Period without a direct commission. It shows a couple, melting into one, at the edge of a meadow of flowers. Only the different patterning of the robes distinguishes their bodies that are enveloped in a shimmering golden halo. Klimt actually used real gold leaf, silver, and platinum in his picture. He presumably started work on it in 1907 and exhibited the painting at the Kunstschau in June the following year under the title Lovers. From his show, the Ministry of Art purchased it for the Modern Gallery—now the Belvedere—for a price that was high even then. In autumn 1909, a catalogue of this museum cited the work for the first time as The Kiss, the title by which it is world famous today.
1909, Gustav Klimt, The Kiss (Lovers) -- Belvedere Palace (Vienna)
From the museum label: The Kiss, probably Klimt's most famous work, was painted at the height of his Golden Period without a direct commission. It shows a couple, melting into one, at the edge of a meadow of flowers. Only the different patterning of the robes distinguishes their bodies that are enveloped in a shimmering golden halo. Klimt actually used real gold leaf, silver, and platinum in his picture. He presumably started work on it in 1907 and exhibited the painting at the Kunstschau in June the following year under the title Lovers. From his show, the Ministry of Art purchased it for the Modern Gallery—now the Belvedere—for a price that was high even then. In autumn 1909, a catalogue of this museum cited the work for the first time as The Kiss, the title by which it is world famous today.