gustav klimpt tree
The painting is a study for a series of three mosaics created by Klimt for a 1905-1911 commissioned work at the Palais Stoclet in Brussels, Belgium. The mosaics were created in the artist’s Late Works period, and depict swirling Trees of Life, a standing female figure and an embracing couple. The mosaics are spread across three walls of the Palais’ dining room, along with two figural sections set opposite each other. [3]
The Tree of Life, Stoclet Frieze (French: L’Arbre de Vie, Stoclet Frieze) is a painting by an Austrian symbolist painter Gustav Klimt. It was completed in 1909 and is based on the Art Nouveau (Modern) style in a symbolic painting genre. The dimensions of the painting are 195 by 102 centimetres (77 by 40 in), [1] and it is housed at the Museum of Applied Arts, Vienna, Austria. [2]
Besides The Tree of Life and The Kiss as mentioned within this site, Gustav Klimt’s career produced many other fantastic sketches and oil paintings which we list below:
Framed Tree of Life in Detail by Gustav Klimt
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One of the important qualities of The Tree of Life is that it challenges the viewer to spend more time admiring the painting, while gauging all its meanings. While the artist uses a richness of symbols, gold for paint and other luxurious techniques to illustrate a magical world, the presence of a single black bird draws the viewer towards the central part of the painting. The black bird is a reminder that everything that has a beginning also has an end, as black birds have been used as a symbol of death by many cultures.
While many talk about the symbol of unity in Gustav Klimt’ The Tree of Life, there are others that consider it an expression of masculine and feminine. The feminine expressed in the painting symbolizes sustenance, care and growth, while the masculine is expressed through the use of phallic representations. From this different union, life is born, and the tree of life, as well.
Gustav Klimt, Birch Forest, 1903, Oil on canvas, 42 1/4 x 42 1/4 inches, Paul G. Allen Family Collection
This green horror vacui is a natural consequence of Klimt’s interest in ornament and rhythm. At this point of his career Klimt had steered away from his gold phase and was influenced by Impressionism and Neo-Impressionism, as many of his colleges at the time showed. But in Klimt’s pieces we don’t sense the stiffness of Signac and Seurat’s pieces–Klimt had added depth to the landscape within the painting by using vertical brush strokes.
When is a picture of a tree more than just a simple tree? The idea of the Tree of Life with its connections to heaven and earth has been an important symbol since ancient times. In this lesson, we’re going to explore an image that uses a tree as a metaphor for life and unity. But first, let’s discuss the background of the artist who created it.
The Tree of Life, which dominates both large images, is an old idea that dates back to prehistory. It is a symbolic image that connects life and death and heaven and earth. The roots of the tree begin underground, in the realm of the underworld. The trunk then breaks through to the earth and rises to the sky. The upper tree branches curl, twist and intertwine as they connect to the heavens. So, the Tree of Life represents the continuity of life as well as its complexities. It unites all elements of life. Klimt further emphasizes this connectedness by his use of a flattened style and design elements that envelope the entire surface.
References:
http://www.gustavklimt.net/tree-of-life/
http://www.gustav-klimt.com/The-Tree-Of-Life.jsp
http://www.dailyartmagazine.com/gustav-klimt-trees-paintings/
http://study.com/academy/lesson/gustav-klimts-tree-of-life-stoclet-frieze-meaning-painting.html
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gustav_Klimt