Klimt's »The Kiss« – Film Production for Art History TV Series

From Painting to Story – How We Translate Artworks into TV-Ready Dramaturgy

No painting of the Art Nouveau movement is cited more often than Klimt's »The Kiss«. For Deutsche Welle, Basiliscus Film conceived, shot, and produced the episode dedicated to this Viennese masterpiece – with the Belvedere as its backdrop and with expert voices explaining why this painting has lost none of its power of attraction after more than 100 years.

»The Kiss« by Gustav Klimt at the Belvedere Museum in Vienna

»The Kiss« is the most celebrated work by the painter Gustav Klimt. Completed in 1908, it became one of the key works of the Art Nouveau movement and, beyond that, a modern icon – today on view at the Belvedere Museum in Vienna.

One often decisive factor in turning a painting into a cult image is the reputation of the artist – the more mysterious or scandalous the life, the better. Gustav Klimt's life was not without its share of scandal, much of it centred on his relationships with women and his paintings, some of which were perceived as outright pornographic. The femme fatale was, in fact, Klimt's favourite motif. In »The Kiss«, it is precisely this mysterious, erotic quality that elevated the work to cult status.

Series Concept – A Journey Across Europe to the Icons of Art History

Ten paintings that everyone knows. Ten painters and their biographies. Ten masterworks of art history. Cited, reproduced, and received hundreds of thousands of times. In the series »Meisterwerke Revisited«, we travel to Europe's most renowned museums, present their most famous works, and offer a fresh perspective on each one.

What qualities does Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa fulfil to be considered an icon? Or Edvard Munch's The Scream? Advertising creatives, designers, artists, and art historians tell us why these old masterworks remain as relevant as ever – and share their own interpretations.

In the ten-part TV series »Meisterwerke Revisited«, Berlin-based film production company Basiliscus Film – commissioned by Deutsche Welle – dedicates each episode to one of ten paintings that have achieved cult status. Our camera team embarked on an in-depth journey across Europe to visit the most celebrated paintings in art history.