Mona by Sara Kissing
Medium: Acrylic, 24-Karat Gold Leaf, Markers, Epoxy Resin
Dimensions: 30 x 40 in
Year: 2025
Price: $7900.00 USD
Status: available
Mona Lisa — “The Royal Smile” Part of my Royal Treatment Collection, exhibited at Red Dot Miami in 2025, The Royal Smile reimagines Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa as contemporary pop-art royalty. At the center is one of the most recognizable faces in art history, crowned and surrounded by layers of handwritten typography, symbols, numbers and references that tell the story behind the masterpiece. The painting incorporates Leonardo da Vinci’s name and history, references to the Italian Renaissance, the Mona Lisa’s French title La Joconde, and details connecting the work to its home at the Musée du Louvre in Paris, including the museum’s address. The mysterious smile that has fascinated viewers for more than five centuries becomes the focal point of the story. “The Royal Smile” is written boldly across the composition, while repeated references to Mona Lisa, Paris, love, creativity and the Louvre transform the historical portrait into a layered contemporary narrative. The work also plays with the collision of Renaissance history and modern visual culture. Barcodes, graffiti-like marks, crowns, lips, numbers and expressive typography surround Leonardo’s iconic subject, inviting the viewer to discover new details each time they look at the painting. Created in my signature mixed-media pop-art style, the work combines expressive painting, typography, collage-like imagery and metallic accents to celebrate not only the Mona Lisa herself, but also Leonardo da Vinci’s extraordinary legacy and the enduring cultural fascination surrounding his most famous painting. The original artwork is presented in a gallery-style gold frame, extending the concept of the Royal Treatment Collection beyond the canvas and giving this contemporary interpretation of the Mona Lisa its own modern royal setting.
Why collect this work?
Mona offers a focused way to encounter Sara Kissing's practice through a specific work and its recorded materials.
- Sara Kissing's practice is described through I create visual stories. My work explores the emotional connections we form with people, places, objects and memories, and the stories that exist beyond the immediately visible subject.
I combine contemporary pop art with layers of acrylic paint, collage, typ.
- Mona Lisa — “The Royal Smile”
Part of my Royal Treatment Collection, exhibited at Red Dot Miami in 2025, The Royal Smile reimagines Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa as contemporary pop-art royalty.
At the center is one of the most recognizable faces in art history, crowned and surrounded by layers of handwritten typography, symbols, numbers and references that tell the story behind the masterpiece. The painting incorporates Leonardo da Vinci’s name and history, references to the Italian Renaissan
- The recorded technique or medium is Acrylic, 24-Karat Gold Leaf, Markers, Epoxy Resin.
- At 30 x 40 in, it can be considered for collections that have room for a work of this scale.
About the Artist
Sara Kissing
Nationality: German
I create visual stories.
