The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of August 18, 2026

A vertically oriented, grayscale photomontage depicts a woman with dark hair and light skin kissing a man, her hand cradling his chin. Center, their heads float above a dense, crowded layer of small stone crosses and headstones filling the lower half. To the left, a dark tree silhouette stands against a sky of streaking gray clouds. This composition blends their smooth features with the sharp, jagged texture of a vast graveyard.

No. 22: Last Kiss

1949, printed probably 1970s

Grete Stern

(German, 1904–1999)
Argentina
gelatin silver print, photomontage
Image: 10.9 x 7.5 cm (4 5/16 x 2 15/16 in.)
Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund 2023.157.22
Location: Not on view

Did You Know?

A key aspect of photomontage is the juxtaposition of elements that would not usually be found together.

Description

Grete Stern was commissioned to create the Dreams photomontages as photographic illustrations for a weekly column, “Psychoanalysis Will Help You,” in Idilio (Idyll), a pioneering Argentinian women’s magazine. Its readers submitted written descriptions of their dreams which were analyzed by two male intellectuals and illustrated by Stern. While incorporating some suggestions from two men, Stern often subverted their interpretations, substituting her own proto-feminist reactions to the dream narratives.
  • Grete Stern (the artist) [1904-1999], to Gerd Sander
    Gerd Sander [1940-2021]
    ?–2023
    (Galerie Julian Sander, Cologne, Germany), sold to The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
    December 4, 2023–
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • {{cite web|title=No. 22: Last Kiss|url=false|author=Grete Stern|year=1949, printed probably 1970s|access-date=18 August 2026|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/2023.157.22