The Painted Kiss

Gustav Klimt, one of the great painters of fin de siècle Austria?and the subject of Helen Mirren's latest film, Woman in Gold?takes center stage in this passionate and atmospheric debut novel, which reimagines the tumultuous relationship between the Viennese painter and Emilie Flöge, the woman who posed for his masterpiece The Kiss, and whose name he uttered with his dying breath.Vienna in 1886 was a city of elegant cafés, grand opera houses, and a thriving and adventurous artistic community. It is here where the twelve-year-old Emilie meets the controversial libertine and painter. Hired by her bourgeois father for basic drawing lessons, Klimt introduces Emilie to a subculture of dissolute artists, wanton models, and decadent patrons that both terrifies and inspires her. The Painted Kiss follows Emilie as she blossoms from a naïve young girl to one of Europe's most exclusive couturiers?and Klimt's most beloved model and mistress. A provocative love story that brings to life Vienna's cultural milieu, The Painted Kiss is as compelling as a work by Klimt himself.

Meeting the controversial libertine and painter Gustav Klimt at the age of twelve, Emilie Floege, the youngest daughter of a 1886 Viennese businessman, matures into a sanguine adult and becomes the artist's mistress as well as the owner of an exclusive fashion house. A first novel. Reader's Guide included. Reprint. 50,000 first printing.