Fir Forest I 1901

Here's Gustav Klimt's “Fir Forest I”, made with oil on canvas. Look at how those vertical marks jostle for space, a whole host of straight lines pushing up into the air! I can just imagine Klimt, standing before his canvas, brush loaded with paint, making stroke after stroke, each one a little different from the last. Were these fir trees in his head or did he sit outside and paint, I wonder? I’m sympathizing with Klimt, who has to balance the need to be precise and controlled, versus letting things happen, letting the paint do its thing. There’s a kind of energy in that struggle, isn't there? The orange-red palette gives it a feeling of warmth, like walking in a forest at sunset, but those trunks are actually full of blues and greys. Painters are always having a conversation with each other. You can see how Klimt probably learned from impressionist painters but did his very own thing! He captures the feeling of being in nature, of getting lost in the details, which makes room for multiple ways of seeing.