Gustav Klimt (1907 to 08). The Kiss [oil on canvas]. Osterreichische Nationalbibliothek, Vienna.

The forms of the two figures are reduced to planar shapes with smaller, more elemental shapes communicating their emotional states. In this way, this is a conceptual work intended to impact the observer. Objective abstraction applies because the changes in value and texture build an arguable fore- to background relationship, though the background has been severely reduced. Energy is closed and contained within the composition. That of the male figure is discordant when the condition of the female figure is considered, which contradicts what would otherwise be a warm composition.

Hue, like objective form, has been reduced to subjectivity and near non-existence. Diluted color dominates the composition, leaving contrasts in value and shape to generate this work’s formal interest. The value pattern is foundational to the pictorial conflict generated between organic, amorphous forms and rigid, solid forms. Value contrast is significantly reduced in the outer portions of the canvas. The static peace this formatting choice creates is broken up by jarring textural and patterning differences in the field.

Klimt has quite ingeniously created a sense of deep pictorial space using essentially flat forms. This is largely due to extreme differences in field/ground detail and value. Focus is based on recognizability and aided by the before-mentioned contrasts in form definition and value. The square shape of the canvas references this work’s reliance on equivalencies to build tension and interest (eg, dichotomous form tone and definition, value range, and positive/negative space).

I believe the rigid, absolutist formatting of the masculine forms is a commentary on male stubbornness and tendency to oversimplify. A man can only feel two emotions: Anger or something other than anger. The male forms are harsh and incapable of possessing any sort of blended or simultaneous state. On the other hand, the feminine forms are capable of being complicated by more than one condition, are solid yet yielding, and are much more moderated in the individual formal conditions they carry (color, value, size). In the end, the effectiveness of this masterpiece is shown in the path it takes the observer on. Initially warm and loving, these impressions slowly blend into disquiet as the canvas is read and formal choices are analyzed.