The Kiss (Kyss)

The Kiss (Kyss) by Edvard Munch is a seminal print created in 1895 using the demanding techniques of etching and drypoint. This graphic work explores the profound psychological themes of intimacy, isolation, and the dissolution of individual identity that were central to the Norwegian artist’s repertoire throughout the 1890s. While Munch first explored this motif in an oil painting in 1892, its translation into the graphic medium allows for a heightened sense of atmosphere and stark contrast.

The composition features two figures locked in a tight, columnar embrace. Their faces are entirely obscured, melted together into a single, featureless form, suggesting the moment of passion where the personal boundary between two individuals collapses. This visual fusion and the surrounding environment, which borders on abstraction, align the piece with Symbolist anxieties regarding emotional vulnerability and the modern psyche. As a key figure in turn-of-the-century art, Munch utilized the medium of prints to rapidly disseminate his intensely subjective visions across Europe.

The technical execution enhances the mood; the etching and drypoint processes create rich, burred lines that lend a raw, tactile intensity to the shadows and contours of the entwined bodies. This technique allows for deeper tones and sharper contrasts than available in many of his painted versions of the subject. Created in 1895, this print captures the emotional intensity of the fin-de-siècle and remains one of the most widely recognized images by the artist. This powerful example of early modern printmaking is permanently housed in the collection of the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), New York.