Powercoin combine the work of Gustav Klimt with one of WW2’s most iconic photographs for their latest silver coin

On 14 August 1945, photographer Alfred Eisenstaedt was in New York’s Times Square for Victory over Japan Day, the day that President Truman announced to the American people the surrender of Japan, and the end of the Second World War. Through the chaos of celebration, he spotted a sailor leaning over a nurse and planting a kiss on her. The photograph he took has become one of the most iconic of the war, endlessly reproduced ever since.

Almost forty years before this date, famed Austrian Symbolist painter, Gustav Klimt, was unveiling what was to become his most famous work, ‘The Kiss’. Done during his ‘Golden Period’, it depicts a couple in a passionate embrace, although in direct contrast to the Eisenstaedt image, in a highly stylised way. The oil-on-canvas, with gold leaf, is now considered a masterpiece of the Art Nouveau style.

At first glance, the two pieces of imagery would make poor bedfellows, clashing with the sheer scale of their different takes on a similar subject. However, Powercoin saw something in that contrast, and created a super-inventive mix of the two to represent the concept of Carpe Diem – in English, ‘Seize the day’. This first coin is called ‘Kiss in the Kiss’.

The key to this coin’s design is its employment of high-relief. The bulk of the face is a relatively flat interpretation of the 1945 photograph, but where the kiss would have been in that image, we have a deep gouge out of the face, complete with some quite realistic ‘torn paper’ look around the edge. In the centre of that deeper hole sits a coloured image of part of the Klimt masterwork, beautifully aligned with the photograph on the higher level. The word KISS is placed twice to the left of the hole, one raised in relief, the other incused into the coin.

It’s a terrific design, with the juxtaposition of the two wildly different takes on the same idea blending together perfectly. The contrast between the vibrant colour of the painting, and the black proof finish of the photo, enhances the design. It’s all very clever, and works aesthetically as well. The obverse is quite simple in contrast, although the line drawing is bang on theme. An impressive debut for this new series, and we’re intrigued to see where it will go from here. Available to order now, it comes boxed with a Certificate of Authenticity, and is capped at 499 pieces.