Resumen de Neue Blicke auf alte Ansichten: Zur Bedeutung der 'Klischees' in der Rodin-Forschung am Beispiel des "Kusses" (1885-1898)
The writer discusses the history of the reception of Auguste Rodin's sculpture The Kiss (1885–98). Although the genesis and meaning of the sculpture cannot be explained definitively, the commonly held view that it represents a passionate kiss, the harmonious embodiment of sensuous love, simplifies matters. The writer argues that the work is ambivalent and reflects the collision of contradictory drives. From the beginning, she notes, most photographs of the work have presented a frontal view, but if one moves around the work, one can see that the man's whole body exudes a sense of restraint rather than participation in the kiss.
