Gustav Klimt’s The Kiss—Art and the Biology of Early Human Development

Kim et al identifies biological illustrations that may have influenced ornamental forms in The Kiss and other paintings by Gustav Klimt, emerging from the artist's close interactions with scientists and embryologists and their writings in turn-of-the-century Vienna society. The Kiss (1907-1908)...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:JAMA : the journal of the American Medical Association 2021-11, Vol.326 (18), p.1778-1780
Main Authors: Kim, Dai Hyun, Park, Hyunmi, Rhyu, Im Joo
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Art exhibits
Flowers
Gametes
Klimt
Klimt, Gustav (1862-1918)
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Summary:Kim et al identifies biological illustrations that may have influenced ornamental forms in The Kiss and other paintings by Gustav Klimt, emerging from the artist's close interactions with scientists and embryologists and their writings in turn-of-the-century Vienna society. The Kiss (1907-1908) is the best-known painting of Klimt, an Austrian painter of the European Art Nouveau, and was first exhibited in 1908 at the Vienna art show Raum 22 with the title Liebespaar (The Lovers). Depicting 2 lovers embracing against an abstract expanse of gold leaf on a painted bed of flowers, the painting hangs in Vienna, Austria's Osterreichische Galerie Belvedere museum. Admirers of Klimt's painting have noted similarities between forms in the lovers' garments and those of human gametes.
ISSN:0098-7484
1538-3598
DOI:10.1001/jama.2021.14307