The Painted Kiss by Elizabeth Hickey

 Emilie Floge (1874-1952) was an Austrian fashion designer, whose designs were ahead of her time. They were meant to be comfortable and they were seen as avant-garde. She was also associated with the painter Gustav Klimt as his life companion. 

1886 Vienna, Emilie Floge is twelve years old, when she meets Gustav Klimt. She becomes fascinated with the world of artists and dreams of Klimt painting her. To her surprise her father requests Klimt to draw three sisters.

After three drawings are done, Klimt stays for dinner. Emilie is so unhappy with a drawing of her. “I was the only one who looked like I could turn people to stone.” And the whole family seems to be agreeing that he captured her personality the best.

She takes her revenge at dinner, when she notices his clumsiness with a knife and fork. “It was bad manners to draw attention to other people’s bad manners, but I made sure that he could tell what I thought from the way I was looking at him.” 

Since one of her sisters is taking singing lessons and the other is about to begin a special language course, it was decided that Emilie would take drawing lessons with Klimt.

She is disappointed to be taking her first drawing lessons at Mrs. Klimt’s house instead of Gustav’s studio. But then posing for Klimt takes her to his studio where she feels most alive.

“He painted a world without hypocrisy, where people were free to love whomever they chose regardless of age or social class or propriety…”

With the support of her father and Klimt, she opens a fashion salon.

While she designs the first dresses for herself, Klimt realizes that he has never painted her. So he begins to make the sketches for the portrait. The portrait, which ends up being stunning.

The studio becomes an immediate success.

When WWI breaks out, it changes everything. Some from the artistic circle die before the war ends.

With this richly imagined story of two avant-garde artists, the author brings a vivid portrait of them: how they’re met, how their lives progressed. I just wished the story brought more of her fashion designs. They were so distinctive that it begs to be integrated more into the story.

The story involves many famous names, among them Alma Schindler-Mahler. If you’d like to read more about her and the Vienna Secession movement – Ecstasy by Mary Sharratt

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