The Kiss 1906

Bessie Potter Vonnoh made this sculpture, a bronze called "The Kiss," and well, she was probably thinking about, you know, love and connection! It looks like it was built up, layer by layer, almost like she was coaxing it into being, pressing and smoothing the clay. The surface is so tactile; you can almost feel the warmth of the bronze. The way the mother's arms cradle the child, there's such a tenderness, an embrace caught in time. The colour is beautiful, all those gorgeous muted bronzes— it’s easy to imagine the artist working away, shifting and adjusting until it felt just right. It reminds me of other sculptors, like Rodin. They're all in conversation, really, across time, thinking about form, emotion, and how to make something solid that still feels alive and breathing. It's a real skill to capture something so intimate, so fleeting, and make it last. The idea of love seems to be something artists can never tire of.