The Painted Kiss: A Novel

By Elizabeth Hickey

Book Overview

Gustav Klimt, one of the great painters of fin de si cle Austria--and the subject of the film Woman in Gold starring Helen Mirren--takes center stage in this passionate and atmospheric historical... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0743492609
• ISBN13: 9780743492607
• Release Date: April 2005
• Publisher: Atria Books
• Length: 282 Pages
• Weight: 1.02 lbs.
• Dimensions: 9.5" x 1.1" x 6.3"

Customer Reviews

A PROMISING DEBUT NOVEL...

This is an ambitious novel by its first time author. The focal point of the book is the relationship between noted Austrian painter, Gustav Klimt, and Emilie Floge, mistress of an exclusive fashion salon in fin de siecle Vienna. This is a woman whose name would be upon his lips when Klimt died. Who was she, and what was their relationship? As there is little known in the historical record about the relationship between Gustav Klimt and Emilie Floge, the author was free to let her imagination wander. Told as a first person narrative by Emilie Floge, the book reveals a relationship that would encompass many years, many events, and many changes. Having first met Gustav Klimt when she was a twelve year old girl, and he was but a penniless, nearly starving, artist, she becomes his pupil. As he instructs this young girl in the fundamentals of drawing, a certain undeniable attraction exists. She is fascinated by him, and he eventually notices the nubile young girl that she is. Under his tutelage, our bourgeois young lady glimpses the world of the demi-monde, a world where artists' models and artists would bypass the mores of accepted society. Theirs was a relationship that would span his lifetime until his death at the age of fifty-six. Yet, theirs was not to be the passion of great lovers. Their relationship, at least in the imaginings of the author, was more one of intimate friendship. Through the eyes of Emilie Floge, the reader sees the accession of Gustav Klimt into the highest rungs of Viennese society, a sought after, though somewhat controversial, artist and lover. He, in turn, becomes Emilie's patron, assisting her with the establishment of her haute couture salon, where she would dress the wealthy women who sought out Gustav Klimt in hopes of becoming his mistress. That position was one that Emilie herself had considered but eschewed in the final analysis. The author conveys a certain feeling of melancholy between the two protagonists, who are bound together by something stronger than a fleeting passion. In the end, Emilie became something even more important to Gustav Klimt. She became his muse. This is a fairly well-written, introspective work of historical fiction that occasionally lacks substance. At times, it feels as superficial as the society about which the author writes. The author, however, intersperses commentary on some of Gustav Klimt's paintings. These are paintings that bear some relation to Emilie's narrative, and the use of this commentary is an interesting literary contrivance. So, there is much to enjoy in this novel, and I look forward to this promising author's next book.

Art and historical fiction combine to tell a fantastic story!

I'm not generally one who would read fictional novels about the art world. What I know about painting, sculpture, or whatever else passes for art nowadays could fit on the head of a pin. I've heard there are these places called "museums," apparently, where an individual or groups of people can go and look at lots of paintings hanging on walls. Occasionally, and again I'm only relating what others told me, the artist sometimes shows up wearing a beret and smoking cheap French cigarettes in order to berate, in the snottiest tones imaginable, the imbeciles who have the temerity to ask questions about his or her work. Are these things true? Beats me. I wouldn't know a museum if it fell on my house. I do, however, know a few things about historical fiction. I know these sorts of novels sweep the reader away to past eras, to places where important historical figures come alive to dance once again across the stage of human achievement. Elizabeth Hickey, in her first stab at historical fiction, promises to take us back to turn of the century Vienna in "The Painted Kiss." It's a story about artist Gustav Klimt and his relationship with a young woman named Emilie Floge. Both Gustav Klimt and Emilie Floge were real people living in extraordinary times of empire, war, peace, and war again. In fact, the painting on the cover of the book is Klimt's portrait of Floge. She's a long drink of water, that Emilie. She's also got a strongly determined face. Hickey seems to model the character in the book based upon this picture. When we first meet Emilie Floge and her moderately well off family, she's a twelve year old girl watching the ruler of the Austro-Hungarian empire parade through the streets of Vienna. We rapidly learn that Emilie is a perceptive individual, somewhat of a wiseacre, and that her family is quite strict. It's during this parade that our protagonist first meets Gustav Klimt, an up and coming artist who happens to know her father. Soon after, Emilie's parents allow the young painter to compose several portraits of their daughters. Then Floge begins taking painting lessons with Klimt. She's thrilled about spending time with such an exciting personality even as she's slightly repulsed by his bohemian existence. Such patrician inhibitions will soon fade as life at home heats up: the 'rents soon regret allowing their daughters nearly unlimited access to Klimt and his brother, and Emilie grows up enough to realize she has a special connection with Gustav. The two share a special bond that is not quite asexual. Gustav, now linked to the Floge family through a brother's marriage to one of Emilie's sisters, can't stand the idea of any man making eyes at her. He, however, has little problem seducing the morally challenged models that pose for his paintings, or even striking up a relationship with a girl that cleans his painting supplies. Perhaps most surprisingly, Emilie seems strangely unaffected when she discovers these secret assignations. She oscilla

look out Hollywood, here comes Elizabeth Hickey

The author's debut novel is not a project for the weak of heart. Historic fiction requires research - and lots of it, especially with characters who are somewhat contemporaneous with some people still living today. When I received this book from the author, I wasn't sure what to expect. This really isn't my favorite genre of reading, but from the first page, I was hooked. Hickey has a true gift for crafting scenes and emotion so richly, that after reading, I felt like I had seen a movie rather than having read a book. The novel explores an imagined romance between clothing designer Emilie Flöge and famed painter Gustav Klimt. The author weaves in several characters who were well known in the same era and whether or not all the relationships cited took place, they were definitely plausible. The story moves from the "present" in late World War II where Flöge and her niece Helene are taking refuge in the country side away from the bombs hitting their beloved Vienna, to the"past" in the late 1800s when Flöge is a first a drawing student of Klimt, and later his occasional lover and his continual confidant and lifelong friend. Written in the first person by Flöge, this is not simply a "chick" book - it's an interesting who's who of the art world in Paris and Vienna before, during and after World War I and gives a fascinating insight into the dramas surrounding art commissions and the subculture and power plays of the artists of the time. While reading this novel, I felt like a time traveller with the details included - I could visualize the food, the utensils, the facial expressions, the clothing, the cold winter air - everything. I quickly felt like I knew these characters as well as Flöge knew them and found myself laughing out loud in a few passages. Were Klimt and Flöge really lovers? Only they know for sure and they took their secrets to the grave - but Hickey takes these loose threads and ties them together into a plausible and enjoyable page-turner of a novel. This book is ripe for a movie deal. It is so well written, adapting it for film would not be a Herculean effort. I look forward to reading Hickey's next book.

A love affair with art and history as the backdrop

A Painted Kiss gives you insight on the life of the artist Gustav Klimt through his lover's eyes, Emilie Floge. She first meets the Gustav as a 12 year-old girl. Her parents asked him to give their youngest daughter drawing lessons. Emilie has many emotions running through her mind as a young woman. Her fascination for Gustav does not change and in fact grows into an impassioned love for him. The art world is developing and changing before their eyes. Chapters alternate between a narrative on the people and their poses in each of Klimt's well known paintings; 1890 when Emilie was a young woman in love, as a model and mistress for Gustav Klimt; Emilie as an older woman in 1944 during World War II. Against the backdrop of history, you see how Emilie influenced the art and genius of Gustav Klimt. Outstanding and enjoyable read.

The WELL Painted Kiss!

I was fortunate enough to grab an advanced reader's copy of this novel off the reviewer desk of the magazine where I work. With historical fiction all the rage these days, it's possible to find writers who really know their craft, or conversely historians who really know the age they're describing, but seldom do we find both traits in the same author! Elizabeth Hickey both writes with a rare lyrical clarity and evokes turn of the century Vienna with such precision it makes one wonder if she had access to a time machine. I feel as though I've actually sat in the corner of Klimt's studio while he painted "The Kiss" and pinned hems in the Vienna fashion salon of his lover Emilie Floge. I imagine that comparisons will be made between "The Painted Kiss" and "Girl with a Pearl Earring." While I'm positive that fans of Tracy Chevalier will love this book, it seems important to point out that Hickey's work is far from derivative. She is an exceptionally talented writer in her own right, and should be treated as such!