Klimt The Kiss Pin Brooch Eternal Love by Gustav Klimt Gold Plated 1.75H

Gold Leaf Becomes a Pin: The Klimt Kiss Pin

A couple melts into one golden shape, wrapped in patterned robes, in antique gold plate. The Klimt Kiss pin shrinks the best-known painting by Gustav Klimt to under 2 in tall.

The antique finish deepens the recesses and keeps the patterns readable. This Klimt brooch lets the ornament carry the picture.

Product Details

• Material: 24K antique gold plate over pewter
• Dimensions: 1.75 in H x 1 in W x 0.25 in thick
• Product number: 5049
• Origin: Made in USA

Painted in Gold

Klimt painted The Kiss in 1907 and 1908. The canvas is 180 cm square, nearly 6 ft on each side. He used oil paint and real gold leaf.

The gold ground dissolves the lovers into a shimmering space. Klimt visited the Byzantine mosaics at Ravenna in 1903. The flat gold of San Vitale left a deep mark on him.

Patterns for Him, Patterns for Her

Look at the robes. Rectangles cover the man, and circles and ovals cover the woman. He wears a wreath of leaves. She wears what look like stars.

Gustav Klimt jewelry can borrow those patterns well, since they are already ornament.

Vienna Secession Jewelry and the Golden Period

Klimt led the Vienna Secession, a group of Austrian artists and architects. They took cues from Art Nouveau and broke with the conservative academy. The Austrian state bought The Kiss in 1908, before it was even finished.

Vienna Secession jewelry like this pin belongs to a larger design movement. The original hangs in the Belvedere in Vienna. Gustav Klimt jewelry of this kind keeps that gold in miniature.

Wearing and Display

Pin the Klimt Kiss pin to a dark coat, a scarf or a bag. The thin edge catches the light. Wipe it dry with a soft cloth. A Klimt brooch looks best alone.

Browse more painted masterpieces in our Museum Jewelry Pins and Brooches. Gustav Klimt jewelry suits plain black best.

About Gustav Klimt

Gustav Klimt was born near Vienna in 1862 and died in 1918. His Golden Period came in the early 1900s. The Klimt Kiss pin is a small piece of that period.

Vienna Secession jewelry of this kind keeps his gold alive.

For More Reading from the Web

• Hear two art historians read the gold, the patterns and the embrace. The Klimt Kiss pin comes straight from this canvas. Gustav Klimt, The Kiss - Smarthistory
• Follow the painting from the 1908 Kunstschau to the Belvedere. Any Klimt brooch begins here. The Kiss (Klimt) - Wikipedia