Standing Lovers Embracing, Man with Cape. Study for The Kiss, 1907/08

Only few preliminary drawings have survived for Gustav Klimt’s (1862–1918) famous painting The Kiss created in 1907/08. No more than around ten studies can be associated today with this painting, one of which is housed by the Leopold Museum. As opposed to the painted version, the female figure is almost invariably rendered naked and standing in this group of drawings. In this respect, the motif is similar to the depiction of the standing couple in Fulfillment from the Stoclet Frieze. A study that can be conclusively associated with the painting The Kiss is a crayon drawing that was reproduced in the portfolio on the 1908 Vienna Kunstschau exhibition, as it shows the lovers standing at the edge of the distinctive precipice that also appears in the painting. The present pencil drawing from the Leopold Museum adheres so closely to the depiction in the aforementioned crayon drawing that one could almost speak of a repetition of the motif. The only element missing in the work from the Leopold Collection is the rich decor of the man’s kimono and the veil-like aureole behind the couple found in the crayon drawing.

FS