Mural for the dining room of the Stoclet Palais: Expectation – Tree of life – Fulfilment Gustav Klimt (1862-1918)

Description of Gustav Klimt’s The Tree of Life

The creation of this painting is associated with the name of the tycoon Adolf Stokwe, who in 1904 decided to build a huge family home. It was the fashion at the time to paint on and inside buildings, so the Viennese industrialist invited several artists (among them Gustav Klimt), offering them a contract.

The industrialist was fond of Japanese art, so Klimt decided to paint an appropriate painting that would complement the overall design. This resulted in the famous "Tree of Life" consisting of three elements - expectation, ecstasy and the tree of life itself.

The name carries a symbolic meaning and encourages the viewer to think: perhaps the artist tried to depict a biblical tree of the mind or to illustrate the genealogical tree of all mankind. The branches of the tree can be attributed to the symbol of infinity - the branches meet and intertwine with each other, creating a veritable maze of leaves and unusual scenery.

More attentive viewers may find a large number of triangles, squares and ovals. Experts say that these symbols in Japan are considered masculine and feminine. Europeans associate these symbols with the works of Sigmund Freud (it’s worth noting that Klimt read his work). Who knows, maybe it was the great Freud who inspired the artist to create such an unusual painting.

Klimt spent more than 6 years in his studio working on the golden tree, the central symbol of the painting. It was not in vain that the artist turned to the color gold, which symbolizes life. This is the main color of the picture, the rest perform the role of appendages to the golden tree. Actually, you could write the whole book, not a separate article, about the symbolism of the painting, so we limited ourselves to the central symbols. And there is no single correct explanation of the painting, everyone understands it in his own way.