Auguste Rodin and Constantin Brancusi's depictions of the kiss

Statues of Art - Auguste Rodin

In the case of Auguste Rodin, the most striking element is, in my opinion, the exactness with which he modeled the two bodies giving the impression of reality. The two bodies seem alive and about to move. The impression of reality and authenticity is also given by the shadows of the statues, but mostly by details such as the contraction in the man's foot and the way his lover's back is arched which generate the impression that they are actually made of flesh, bones and muscles. I believe that behind the actual technique he employed was his desire to illustrate passionate love through lines and curves. The sculpture is in many ways, very sexual depicting two lovers engaging in a kiss fueled by sexual tension. A good example is the position of the man's hand on his lover's thigh as well as the way the woman barely touches the ground with her feet. I think the sculpture breathes eroticism especially through the body language of the two lovers; it is very interesting to notice that their lips do not even touch.

One look at Brancusi's "The kiss" and I was left with a completely different feeling. The two lovers' contact is reduced to their lips. They are looking in to each other's eyes but cannot see - or touch, any part of their partner's body. I think that his intentions were the same as in the case of Rodin, but the difference is in their aesthetics. Rodin aimed at expressing love and sexuality through a fullness of forms whereas Brancusi wanted to depict this feeling using exactly the opposite method, i.e. reduced natural forms so that the essence would perhaps be less obvious but more conceptual.