The Painted Kiss

Gustav Klimt, one of the great painters of fin de siècle Austria--and the subject of Helen Mirren's latest film, Woman in Gold--takes center stage in this passionate and atmospheric debut novel, which reimagines the tumultuous relationship between the Viennese painter and Emilie Flöge, the woman who posed for his masterpiece The Kiss, and whose name he uttered with his dying breath.

Vienna in 1886 was a city of elegant cafés, grand opera houses, and a thriving and adventurous artistic community. It is here where the twelve-year-old Emilie meets the controversial libertine and painter. Hired by her bourgeois father for basic drawing lessons, Klimt introduces Emilie to a subculture of dissolute artists, wanton models, and decadent patrons that both terrifies and inspires her. The Painted Kiss follows Emilie as she blossoms from a naïve young girl to one of Europe's most exclusive couturiers--and Klimt's most beloved model and mistress. A provocative love story that brings to life Vienna's cultural milieu, The Painted Kiss is as compelling as a work by Klimt himself.

Author: Elizabeth Hickey
Publisher: Washington Square Press
Published: 03/07/2006
Pages: 288
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 0.85lbs
Size: 8.40h x 5.50w x 0.50d
ISBN13: 9780743492614
ISBN10: 0743492617
BISAC Categories:
- Fiction | Historical | General
- Fiction | Literary