Klimt hid the saddest detail in his most romantic painting

Added: 2026-05-27

[00:00:00]Look closely at her toes. They curl over the very edge of a cliff. This is Gustaf Climpmp's The Kiss painted between 1907 and 1908. A couple embracing on a flower strewn precipice. Her body is held in a curiously twisted pose. The blossoms can make this feel like pure romance, but the ground beneath them is already running out. Part of what makes the painting linger is that quiet contradiction. An embrace pictured exactly where the earth ends.

[00:00:36]You can stand in front of it at the Belvadier in Vienna, Austria.