Jason Zappulla

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Pd. 7
Compare and Contrast Essay #14
The Kiss vs. The Kiss
The Kiss by Gustav Klimt and The Kiss by Constantin Brancusi are
important pieces of 20th century art with the same name. While the works
are similar in their harkening back to the past, use of a single dominant
color, context, and their simplicity, they are dissimilar in their content,
composition, medium, and artistic style.
There are important similarities between The Kiss by Gustav Klimt, and
The Kiss by Constantin Brancusi. Both works harken back to a previous era:
Klimt takes influence from Byzantine art, while Brancusi takes influence from
pre-Classical/primitive type art. Both feature one color that dominates the
work: gold in Klimts painting, and grey in Brancusis sculpture. Both works
can be seen as a reaction to modernization and contemporary styles: Klimt
responds to this by depicting a universal and everyday scene of life, while
Brancusi responds by imitating the archaic and pre-Classical works of
thousands of years ago. Lastly, both works use simplicity as an overarching
theme: Klimt does this by showing an everyday and unextraordinary scene of
life, while Brancusi does this back using simplistic shapes and composition.

However, there are also crucial differences between the two works.
While Brancusi shows a romantic and mutual kiss, in Klimts version, the
women appears unwilling, as the man has his hands on her face to make her
turn and kiss him on the lips. While Brancusi is a block with simplistic shapes
(almost reminiscent of Aztec or Sumerian carvings), Klimt has much more
detail and coloring. Brancusis The Kiss is a sculpture, while Klimts The Kiss
is an oil-on-canvas painting. Finally, while Klimts painting is an Art Nouveaustyle work, Brancusi is an avant-garde proto-Cubist work.
While Klimts The Kiss and Brancusis The Kiss are similar in their
harkening back to the past, use of a single dominant color, context, and their
simplicity, they are dissimilar in their content, composition, medium, and
artistic style.