3rd Grade
Gustav Klimt - Tree of Life
Gustav Klimt was an Austrian symbolist painter and one of the most prominent members of the Vienna Secession movement. Klimt is noted for his paintings, murals, sketches, and other objects of art.
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Tree of Life, 1909, is from Gustav Klimt's Golden Period and is amongst his most famous paintings, from a highly distinguished and productive career. Art Nouveau style in a symbolic painting genre.
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His subject, The Tree of Life, can be found in many religious, mythological, and philosophical works. Thought to symbolize the connection between heaven, earth, and the underworld, The Tree of Life is the only landscape Klimt painted in his Golden Phase. The work features extensive gold, thought a heavenly color, and a black bird, the symbol of death, which supports this interpretation. However, critics have argued that Klimt’s version could also signify the compliment between male and female or the marriage of wisdom and beauty. We can all agree that the painting encourages a thoughtful study of its meaning, which is likely different to all who view it.
Klimt, who was influenced by Japanese art and methods, uses shapes, colors, and lines with extreme intentionality to create his whimsical work.
His subject, The Tree of Life, can be found in many religious, mythological, and philosophical works. Thought to symbolize the connection between heaven, earth, and the underworld, The Tree of Life is the only landscape Klimt painted in his Golden Phase. The work features extensive gold, thought a heavenly color, and a black bird, the symbol of death, which supports this interpretation. However, critics have argued that Klimt’s version could also signify the compliment between male and female or the marriage of wisdom and beauty. We can all agree that the painting encourages a thoughtful study of its meaning, which is likely different to all who view it.
Klimt, who was influenced by Japanese art and methods, uses shapes, colors, and lines with extreme intentionality to create his whimsical work.
Something to think about.... What kinds of symbols would you use to explain your life? Would you use shapes? Pictorial symbols like Egyptians or Cavemen? What kinds of symbols can you come up with to put onto your Tree of Life?
Egyptian Symbols:
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Cavemen Symbols:
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