Where Is The Kiss? See It at This Museum

Q: Where can I see Brâncuși's The Kiss?

Versions exist at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the Craiova Art Museum in Romania, and as a tombstone in Montparnasse Cemetery in Paris. Each version varies slightly in its degree of abstraction.

Q: How big is The Kiss?

The earliest version stands about 58 centimeters tall (23 inches). Brâncuși created multiple versions over the years, some serving as tombstones at larger scale.

Q: How is Brâncuși's Kiss different from Rodin's?

While Rodin's The Kiss is naturalistic and sensual, Brâncuși reduced the lovers to geometric essentials. His couple merges into a single block, their features simplified to basic shapes.

Q: What technique did Brâncuși use?

Brâncuși practiced direct carving, working directly into the stone without preliminary clay models. This approach made the material and process visible in the finished work, breaking from academic tradition.

Constantin Brâncuși carved The Kiss in 1907-1908, reducing two embracing lovers to essential geometric forms. The limestone block shows two figures merged into one, their features simplified to ovals and parallel lines. This radical simplification marked Brâncuși's break from academic sculpture and his move toward abstraction.

The sculpture represents a couple locked in embrace, their bodies forming a single cubic mass. Their eyes meet in profile, arms wrap around each other, and their lips press together at the center. Brâncuși carved directly into the stone, rejecting the academic tradition of making clay models first.

Multiple versions exist, the earliest at the Craiova Art Museum in Romania. A later version serves as a tombstone in Montparnasse Cemetery in Paris. The Philadelphia Museum of Art owns another important version. Brâncuși returned to the theme throughout his career, each version more simplified than the last. The work influenced generations of modern sculptors seeking essential forms.

Versions exist at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the Craiova Art Museum in Romania, and as a tombstone in Montparnasse Cemetery in Paris. Each version varies slightly in its degree of abstraction.

The earliest version stands about 58 centimeters tall (23 inches). Brâncuși created multiple versions over the years, some serving as tombstones at larger scale.

While Rodin's The Kiss is naturalistic and sensual, Brâncuși reduced the lovers to geometric essentials. His couple merges into a single block, their features simplified to basic shapes.

Brâncuși practiced direct carving, working directly into the stone without preliminary clay models. This approach made the material and process visible in the finished work, breaking from academic tradition.

The Kiss

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