Gustav Klimt - Pear Tree

Pear Tree (Birnbaum / Birnbäume), begun in 1903 and reworked until 1918 in oil and casein on canvas by Austrian Symbolist Gustav Klimt. A fruit tree occupies the square composition as a dense, self-contained mass, with branches and foliage spreading across the picture rather than opening onto a distant landscape. The long period of reworking makes the painting unusual within Klimt's landscape production and links an early Attersee motif to the looser handling of his final years. The combination of oil and casein contributes to a varied, matte and layered surface. As in his other tree paintings, a simple botanical subject becomes a monumental field of pattern and colour.