Gustav Klimt, "The Kiss"

I have a poster of Klimt's "The Kiss" hanging in my room... the wrong way. Instead of hanging it vertically, I've hung it horizontally. It's been hanging wrong (no matter where I lived) for as long as I've had the poster (I think I got it in November). Some people notice, some people don't. I generally tell everyone that I've seen it displayed in various stores/places both ways... mainly to see what they say. A friend of mine called it a "bold choice" and later she told me that she liked that I hung it horizontally. I'm waiting, somewhat anxiously, for someone to come over and tell me what an idiot I am, to criticize my education, and mock me openly in my own apartment.

This is the intended view:

I realize I'm offending art students and Klimt admirers everywhere... but it fills the space on my wall and I rather like it "wrong"...


I've found hanging it this way can be a real conversation starter. I've also found that people who take the interpretation of art too seriously tend to ignore what's truly aesthetic about a piece; color, texture, complex lines, etc. (of course this is just my opinion). To clarify, I don't think that what is in the picture and how it's seen from a certain angle should determine the sum total of it's value. In fact, I feel that since Klimt's "The Kiss" can be hung incorrectly yet still maintain "sense" in one's mind only adds to it's beauty. Not that I think art necessarily needs to make sense... in fact, the only thing art really needs to do is appeal to someone.

It's because of this I'm seriously considering hanging the ten Van Gogh posters I have taped up around the place either upside down or sideways....

... just kidding.