--- type: magazine_content title: Gustav Klimt meets LEGO® Art language: en url: "https://www.belvedere.at/en/stories/gustav-klimt-meets-legor-art" --- # Gustav Klimt meets LEGO® Art ![Image](https://www.belvedere.at/sites/default/files/styles/full_width/public/2026-07/31221_Lifestyle_Cons_01.jpg.webp?itok=Gon2o0Vj) How to reinterpret “The Kiss” in LEGO® bricks **Category:** Inside Belvedere Collection [Klimt](javascript:void(0);) [Video](javascript:void(0);) **Published:** 06.08.2026 **Reading time:** 3 min read You have seen it on postcards, on billboards, on book covers or magnets: Gustav Klimt’s “The Kiss” tends to be everywhere – and for good reason. Seeing this masterpiece with your own eyes is quite a different story though. The various kinds of gold reflecting the light while moving around the room, the intricate ornamentation and the surprisingly naturalistic effect of the painted skin will fascinate almost everyone. And so it did Milan Madge, Master Model Designer at the LEGO® Group and the creative mind behind the most recent creation of LEGO® Art sets: Gustav Klimt’s “The Kiss”. **Text:** Lisa Ebner-Kollmann **Photos:** © The LEGO Group © Belvedere, Wien **Header-Image:** © The LEGO Group **Video:** © The LEGO Group > “To see the artwork in images is one thing, but to actually come here and see it in person was spectacular”, Milan Madge describes his first visit to the Belvedere Museum. This was when the initial collaboration meeting for the “The Kiss” - LEGO Art set took place – in a room right next door to the original painting. > “Every question we had \[while discussing the initial model\], we just popped our head out the door and looked at the real thing”, Milan explains. With the museum being full of visitors and the project being top-secret, this proved to be advantageous, as well as quite a challenge. Only a very small circle of people – both at the LEGO Group as well as at the Belvedere – had been in the know about the project then. When the LEGO team informed their colleagues that they were working remotely that day, they weren't working from home. They were actually working at the Upper Belvedere, surrounded by marble and gold, with a view of Vienna. To reinterpret a masterpiece of art – and do it justice – is no small feat. The first draft of the product looked quite different from the result – “*much more scaled down, much less of the ornamentation and detail*”. The process involved not only getting a closer look at the painting but also getting to know the artist and his work. Stephanie Auer, curator of 19th and 20th century art at the Belvedere Museum, was Milan’s sparring partner in this project and shared her insights on the artist, his style and his time. She describes initially not even knowing the words to comment on a LEGO interpretation of the artwork. > “It was a process, I think, until we started speaking the same language. \[Milan\] told me about the needs of LEGO bricks and I tried to explain Klimt’s universe \[to him\]. And suddenly it clicked”, Stephanie Auer describes the experience. ![LEGO® Art Gustav Klimt – Der Kuss — LEGO® Art Gustav Klimt – The Kiss — Photo: Ouriel Morgensztern / Belvedere, Vienna](https://www.belvedere.at/sites/default/files/styles/full_content_width_no_crop/public/2026-07/20260304_Belvedere_Kiss_FINALS_MR-42_0.jpg.webp?itok=0eUcphxW) The Gustav Klimt “The Kiss” LEGO Art set is the largest interpretation of an artistic masterpiece in LEGO bricks yet, consisting of 4000 pieces. The biggest challenge realizing the project proved to be capturing all the different shades of gold. In LEGO products gold is usually used as an accent color and merely for small details. For “The Kiss” the process of how golden elements were produced had to be reevaluated. Another challenge lies in the importance of the naturalistic face and the layering of the inherently two-dimensional picture plane. > “There are so many specific details in the painting, but you must capture the overall impression, the overall feeling. When you’re standing here in front of the Kiss, you feel something. And you need the interpretation in LEGO bricks to evoke the same kind of feeling”, Milan explains, hoping that the final product is, in fact, able to do so. YouTube video Whether the LEGO-interpretation of The Kiss is or isn‘t as captivating as the original can be judged by people around the world, building the Gustav Klimt “The Kiss” LEGO Art Set. To find out more about the artist, the painting and the process of reinterpreting a masterpiece with LEGO bricks, you can listen in on the full conversation with Stephanie Auer and Milan Madge here. ![Product packaging for the LEGO® Art set Gustav Klimt – The Kiss. — LEGO® Art Gustav Klimt – The Kiss (#31221) — © The LEGO Group](https://www.belvedere.at/sites/default/files/styles/full_content_width_no_crop/public/2026-07/31221_Box1_v29.png.webp?itok=UzdpkUf_) **The LEGO® Art Gustav Klimt –** ***The Kiss*** (31221) will be available from 4 August 2026. Learn more and purchase yours at LEGO.com/TheKiss, your nearest LEGO Store, the Belvedere Museum Shop, or selected retailers. ## Gallery - ![LEGO® Art Gustav Klimt – Der Kuss — LEGO® Art Gustav Klimt – The Kiss — Photo: Ouriel Morgensztern / Belvedere, Vienna](https://www.belvedere.at/sites/default/files/styles/full_content_width_no_crop/public/2026-07/20260304_Belvedere_Kiss_FINALS_MR-05_0.jpg.webp?itok=vzW0xSgF) - ![LEGO® Designer Milan Madge and Belvedere curator Stephanie Auer with the LEGO® Art set Gustav Klimt – The Kiss in front of the original painting at the Belvedere Museum. — © Ouriel Morgensztern / Belvedere, Wien](https://www.belvedere.at/sites/default/files/styles/full_content_width_no_crop/public/2026-07/20260304_Belvedere_Kiss_FINALS_MR-40.jpg.webp?itok=HUh4T48A) - ![Staging des fertig gebauten LEGO Art Sets - Gustav Klimt, Der Kuss, in einer Wohnung. — © The LEGO Group](https://www.belvedere.at/sites/default/files/styles/full_content_width_no_crop/public/2026-07/31221_Lifestyle_Envr_05.jpg.webp?itok=7KmrSw_B) - ![A woman and a man assembling the LEGO® Art set Gustav Klimt – The Kiss. — © The LEGO Group](https://www.belvedere.at/sites/default/files/styles/full_content_width_no_crop/public/2026-07/31221_Lifestyle_Build_05.jpg.webp?itok=N_ygZtQo)