In The Kiss, Anderson presents Eden before the fall of Adam and Eve. The lush vegetation and exotic animals that crowd the scene are marked by the artist’s characteristic use of patterning. The horizontal composition stabilizes a strong lateral movement implied by the lines of trees and other plants. As in most of Anderson’s paintings, this scene, which at first appears harmonious, is disrupted by suggestions of impending evil. As she embraces Adam, Eve reaches over his head to pluck the catastrophic fruit—in this case, a Georgia peach. Most ominously, in the middle ground, the road leading out of the Garden is the serpent.