A LEGO version of Gustav Klimt's The Kiss will arrive next month, and it has prompted the usual complaints about the painstaking process of building LEGO Art sets.
At 4,000 pieces and priced at £269.99 / $299.99 / €299.99, 31221 Gustav Klimt – The Kiss is the largest LEGO Art masterpiece released to date. It is also likely to be one of the longest and most repetitive builds in the theme.
Head to the comments on social media following the reveal and you'll find plenty of people saying as much. "My fingers hurt already," wrote Instagram user _daviskendrick_, while Reddit user _Equivalent_Bunch_187 commented: "This looks amazing but also like an excruciating build."
They're probably right. With thousands of similarly coloured gold, tan, brown and orange elements, many of them small studs, it's easy to imagine the hours of repetition ahead. On paper, it sounds like a chore.
But perhaps that's exactly why the set works so well, not just as a LEGO build, but as a recreation of a genuine work of art.
To appreciate that, it's worth looking back at how Klimt created the original painting in 1907-08. During his famous Golden Phase, Klimt painstakingly incorporated gold leaf into works including The Kiss, alongside layers of paint and decorative patterns. It was a slow, delicate and highly labour-intensive process that contributed to the painting's distinctive appearance.
Building 31221 Gustav Klimt – The Kiss is, of course, very different from painting the original. Yet there is something satisfying about recreating the artwork through thousands of individual elements rather than a handful of oversized pieces.
The LEGO Group could have simplified the experience considerably, but much of the satisfaction comes from gradually watching the image emerge brick by brick.
The repetitive act of placing stud after stud begins to echo the patience and precision that artworks like The Kiss demanded. Not literally, of course, but enough to make you slow down and appreciate the process rather than simply rushing to the finished product.
There's also a psychological element to it. Many philosophers and psychologists have argued that effort can deepen our appreciation of the finished result. Think about gardening or completing a jigsaw puzzle. Much of the enjoyment comes not simply from the final outcome, but from knowing you created it yourself.
Compare that with building a smaller set, such as 76335 Spider-Man vs. Ghost Rider Motorcycle. It's a fun experience, but one you can finish in a matter of minutes. LEGO Art asks something different of you. It demands patience, concentration and persistence, rejecting the instant gratification that many hobbies now offer.
By the time you finish 31221 Gustav Klimt – The Kiss and hang it on your wall, your relationship with it is fundamentally different from simply buying a poster of the painting.
Every time you look at it, you'll remember the hours spent assembling thousands of tiny elements, and perhaps the sore fingertips that came with them. The effort transforms it from something you bought into something you accomplished.
So the next time you open a LEGO Art set, or any LEGO set packed with bags of near-identical pieces, don't see the repetition as a drawback. Instead, see it as part of the creative experience.
Gustav Klimt spent years refining his craft before producing one of the world's most celebrated paintings. With that in mind, spending a few hours patiently recreating it in LEGO bricks suddenly doesn't seem so daunting.
Priced at £269.99 / $299.99 / €299.99, 31221 Gustav Klimt – The Kiss launches on August 1 for LEGO Insiders, before a wider release on August 4.
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