The Kiss ....

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The Kiss, 1902, coloured woodcut, Victoria & Albert Museum, London.

The Kiss is a work by Norwegian artist Edvard Munch (1863 - 1944). He is undoubtedly most famous for The Scream, a work which graces t-shirts and variants in the form of social media memes, such is the emotive impact present within the work. It is an impressionist representation of fear.

The Scream.

The Kiss, on the other hand, is the complete opposite. It originally appeared as a pen drawing in 1895, and was followed in the form of oil painting variant in 1897. Munch subsequently reproduced it in a number of print versions, utilising woodcut, etching and lithographic processes.

The Kiss, 1895, ink drawing, MET, New York.

It is an incredibly sensual works of art, depicting two lovers embracing so tightly as to almost form a single body. In some versions they are clothed; in others completely naked. The most famous and perhaps popular version is the woodcut, with the simple application of black ink upon a wood-grained paper, as in the example below.

Kiss IV, 1902, coloured woodcut, Munch Museum, Oslo, Norway.

Kiss IV shows a clothed couple, embracing as they kiss. The male figure is taller than the female, and is slightly bent over, his back arched as opposed to the straight profile of the woman. His hair line is near and tidy, whilst there is the suggestion that his partner, or brief encounter, has long, black hair. Their black clothing completely covers the pair's bodies, with only the skin of the face, neck and hands exposed to reveal the intensity and intimacy of the kiss and embrace.


The Kiss, 1896/7, oil painting.

The Kiss, 1897, oil painting.

Kiss on the Beach, frieze (tempera on canvas), 1906-7, Neue Alte Nationalgalerie, Berlin.

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References

Aaron, After Munch's Kiss by the Window, Artistic Flow, 5 April 2020.

Armistad, Clare, Edvard Munch: Booze, Bullets and Breakdowns, The Guardian, 9 April 2019.

Edvard Munch, Britannica, accessed 1 January 2025.

Edvard Munch, Wikipedia, accessed 1 January 2025.

Munch, Edvard, The Kiss [ink drawing], 1895, MET, New York.

-----, The Kiss [oil painting], 1896/7.

-----, The Kiss [oil painting], 1897.

-----, The Kiss [coloured woodcut], 1902, Victoria & Albert Museum, London.

-----, Kiss IV [coloured woodcut], 1902, Munch Museum, Oslo, Norway.

-----, Kiss on the Beach, frieze (tempera on canvas), 1906-7, Neue Alte Nationalgalerie, Berlin.

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Last updated: 1 January 2025

Michael Organ, Australia

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