The Olive Trees And Gustav Klimt's The Park

In the Museum of Modern Art, many paintings are illustrations of nature portrayed in different ways. Vincent van Gogh's The Olive Trees and Gustav Klimt's The Park are clear examples of this. The Olive Trees, painted in 1889, and The Park, painted in about 1910 or earlier, are both from the Post-Impressionist movement, this explaining why they are painted in a realistic manner. The paintings of Gustav Klimt and Vincent van Gogh both illustrate the trees and nature and are oil on canvas, but in contrasting ways, one shows nature as "calm and still" while the other portrays nature as "vibrant and vigorous." In The Olive Trees and The Park, the trees are the main focal points of the paintings. The difference in distinguishing the main focal point for both paintings is that in The Olive Trees one can tell that the trees are the main focal point because it is at the center of the painting and because it is at the fore ground of the painting, while in The Park the trees take up the entire canvas obviously showing its importance in the painting. The use of color is essential in creating the realism of the trees. In both paintings the same hues are used but different shades. Fore example, the leaves on the trees both include different shades of green and in The Olive Trees, the background of the sky and hills use different shades of blue. The
color schemes are a crucial part in displaying the natural look and also the technique of the artist. Vincent van Gogh and Gustav Klimt's use of color in their techniques are completely different in both paintings. Vincent van Gogh paints using the technique of dashing and creating a swirl look using different shades of the same hue. This dashing of the different shades of the same color creates unity as well as variety; unity because it is the same hue and variety because it is different shades of the same hue. More importantly, Vincent van Gogh's use of color along with his technique creates a nature that is vibrant and vigorous. For example, if you look at the leaves they are dashes of different shades of green connected together which creates a swirling effect. This swirl effect of the leaves on the tress create the aspect of nature being as turbulent and vigorous because the swirls of the leaves give an illusion of movement to the trees from a heavy gush of wind. Although at the clouds in The Olive Trees, he /she will find that the swirl effect of van Gogh forms an illusion that the wind is blowing the clouds fiercely. The swirl technique is very effective in creating an illusion of constant vibrant and vigorous movement within nature. In The Park, Gustav Klimt paints using a technique of stipulating, meaning dots to create a calm and still perception of nature.
He uses different shades of the same hue for the leaves of the trees just like van Gogh but he puts them in dots next to one another, immediately creating unity and variety in the painting. The stipulating technique is especially important because the dots for the leaves create a still and calm image. Unlike The Olive Trees, the trees in The Park do not appear to be swaying in movement. They just seem still and at ease. This ease look makes the audience feel a sense of serenity in
nature. Along with use of color and technique, contour lines found in the both paintings show the perception each painting gives off. In The Park, contour lines used are horizontal and vertical lines. These lines can be seen in the tree trucks and in the ground or grass. The vertical lines show the stillness of the tree trunks implanted in the ground. The horizontal lines are shown through the grass; these lines show a sense of calmness in the painting. In The Olive Trees the lines used are diagonal lines which imply action taking place. The crooked tree trunks indicate movement and show a sense of energy. Along with the tree trunks, the grass is not horizontal; it's hilly implying some sort of movement as well.

With all of the artist's technique of color and lines, paintings of the same thing, in this case nature can be captured in different perceptions. With The Olive Trees and The Park, both capture an image in nature, specifically trees. They have the same image but give the audience a different perception of nature just by looking at it. The Olive Trees portray nature as vibrant and vigorous while The Park portrays nature as calm and serene.