A kiss is just a kiss, except perhaps when it comes to Gustav Klimt’s The Kiss. It’s a lip-puckering phenomenon, endlessly reproduced on posters, cards, scarves, tote bags, umbrellas, laptop covers, iPhone cases and a £305 satin bra and knickers set by the lingerie brand La Musa. Mwah.
It is beyond price. The Kiss has been part of the collection of the Belvedere in Vienna since 1908, but when Klimt’s Lady with a Fan went under the hammer in June this year it became the most valuable work of art sold at auction in Europe at £85.3 million.
If I asked you to close your eyes and picture The Kiss, you would probably see a couple embracing, a field of gold, a scene from
