Klimt’s Kiss

The immersive art experience KLIMT’S KISS – Playing with Fire presents a moving multimedia show about the life and work of Art Nouveau pioneer Gustav Klimt (1862–1918). In addition to his portraits of women, female allegories, and landscape paintings, the Viennese artist gained worldwide fame above all for his masterpiece The Kiss. KLIMT’S KISS tells the life story of this artistic genius—a game of fire—in an immersive show. Before the show begins, visitors are introduced to the key moments in Klimt’s life. Thanks to digital effects, they can interact with Klimt’s art and even become part of his masterful paintings themselves.

The subsequent three-act show fully immerses visitors in the world of the artist, where illusion transforms into reality: animations and projections, combined with music and acoustic effects, create intoxicating, ornamental worlds of color, bringing Klimt and his work to life in a tangible way.

Throughout the show, visitors listen to the voices of a modern-day student and Emilie Flöge (1874–1952), Klimt’s closest confidante and muse. In a fictional dialogue, the two women guide the audience through this unique experience, taking them on an emotional journey through turn-of-the-century Vienna. They recount and comment on Klimt’s successes and scandals, his tragedies and love affairs. And from a female perspective, they critically examine the “painter of women”: Are his works timeless representations of feminine beauty, or do they depict women as mere objects of desire?