Gustav Klimt – Apple Tree I

Apple Tree I is Klimt’s square landscape of about 1912: a single apple tree with a broad, round crown fills almost the whole canvas, red apples glow among blue-green and green leaves, and below it spreads a meadow scattered with white, yellow, pink, violet and red flowers. The original, 109 x 110 cm, has been in a private collection since 2006. We paint it for you by hand in oil on canvas, in eight square sizes from 60 x 60 to 150 x 150 cm or made to measure, and before dispatch you receive a photograph of the finished work to approve.

Apple Tree I – Gustav Klimt

What does the painting show?

The painting shows a single apple tree in the middle of a meadow. Its crown is broad and round and fills almost the whole square canvas, so we see the tree from close up, as if we were standing right in front of it. The leaves are painted in dense, small strokes of blue-green and green, and red apples glow among them like little lights. A thin, dark trunk runs down the middle.

The lower part of the canvas is a meadow full of flowers: white, yellow, pink, violet and red. The flowers are painted as small round dabs and, together with the apples in the crown, they make a pattern that repeats across the whole surface. That is why the painting looks cheerful and full on a wall, like a summer day in the country, even though there are no people and no houses in it.

Why is Apple Tree I no longer in the Belvedere?

For a long time the painting belonged to the Belvedere in Vienna, which is why older sources still place it in that museum. In January 2006, however, the Austrian state handed five paintings by Klimt back to Maria Altmann and the other heirs of Ferdinand and Adele Bloch-Bauer. Among them were both portraits of Adele Bloch-Bauer and this very apple tree.

In November 2006 the painting was sold at Christie’s in New York for about 33 million US dollars. Since then it has been in a private collection and is not on permanent public view. There is more on the Bloch-Bauer family and their Klimt collection in the Klimt database.

What does the painting mean?

Apple Tree I has no hidden story and no symbols to decode. It is a painting of summer: a tree full of fruit and a meadow full of flowers. Many people see fertility and plenty in it, but above all the joy of colour.

That makes it a good choice for a room you want to feel light and warm: a living room, a kitchen with a dining area or a bedroom. The red apples and bright flowers bring life to the wall, and the dense green calms it down again.

When and where did Klimt paint this tree?

Klimt painted it around 1912, in oil on canvas, in the almost square size of 109 x 110 cm. It is one of the square landscapes he painted on his summer stays at the Attersee, the lake in Upper Austria.

The Roman numeral I sets it apart from Klimt’s second apple tree. There is more on the painter, his life and his work on Wikipedia.

Apple Tree I among Klimt’s works

If you like Klimt’s nature, you will find several of his trees and gardens with us. Closest to it is the other apple tree, Apple Tree II. Another fruit tree is Pear Tree, a garden full of flowers and tall sunflowers is Farm Garden with Sunflowers, and a wood of slim trunks above autumn leaves is Forest of Beech Trees.

Which apple tree should you choose? Choose Apple Tree I if you want one round crown full of red apples above a flowering meadow; look at the other one if a different version of the same subject appeals to you, and compare the two.

How is our hand-painted Apple Tree I made?

The painter starts by drawing the trunk and the outline of the crown, because the balance between the round crown and the meadow carries the whole painting. Then come thin layers of darker greens and blues inside the crown, and over them ever lighter strokes of leaves. The red apples go on once the green is dry, one by one, in a clean red with a small highlight. The flowering meadow comes last, in dense round dabs of white, yellow, pink, violet and red.

The photographs show our own copies of this painting. In the first photograph our Apple Tree I hangs in a silver-gold frame on a white wall beside a glass door to a balcony, taken from the front. The second photograph shows the same painting at an angle from the hallway. In the third photograph you see the corner of the frame and, next to it, a small sign with a QR code saying that this is a hand-painted reproduction of Klimt’s Apple Tree I. The fourth photograph shows the canvas up close: red apples, white and pink blossoms and dark branches, painted with thick layers of paint.

The fifth photograph was taken from the stairs: our painting hangs on the wall, and another of our copies leans in the foreground. In the sixth photograph a second copy of Apple Tree I stands in a dark frame with a thin gold inner edge on an easel among frame samples in our studio. The seventh photograph again shows apples and leaves up close, with raised brushstrokes.

Every painting is a hand-painted copy made for your order, so no two are ever quite the same. A printed oil painting reproduction cannot show those raised strokes on the apples and flowers.

Which size for which wall?

Short answer: 100 x 100 or 110 x 110 cm above a sofa or bed, 70 x 70 or 80 x 80 cm above a chest of drawers or in a smaller room, and 120 x 120 or 150 x 150 cm for a large wall. The 110 x 110 cm size is almost exactly the size of the original.

There are eight square sizes: 60 x 60, 70 x 70, 80 x 80, 90 x 90, 100 x 100, 110 x 110, 120 x 120 and 150 x 150 cm. The smallest suit a hallway or the wall above a desk, the middle ones go above furniture, and the largest belong on a big empty wall that the crown fills from edge to edge. Because the apples and flowers repeat across the whole canvas, even a smaller size keeps its pattern. A painting for the living room should take up about two thirds of the width of the furniture below it; above a sofa 150 cm wide, that is 100 x 100 cm.

Hang it with the centre of the canvas about 150 cm above the floor, and 20 to 30 cm above a sofa or a headboard.

Custom size, stretcher and frame

If none of the eight sizes fits your wall, we paint it to measure; it works best kept square, like the original. Send us the width and height you want and we will quote a price and a lead time. Every painting we make is stretched over a wooden stretcher and ready to hang.

For the moulding, use our 3D application: it shows every one of our frame profiles on this subject, so you can compare gold, silver, black, white and natural wood before deciding – the application is for choosing the frame only. If you would like to see how the painting will look on your own wall, that is our separate room placement service. This landscape looks good in a silver-gold profile like the one in the first photograph, because it brings out the light in the crown; a dark frame with a thin gold edge, as in the sixth photograph, deepens the green instead.

Delivery and guarantee

Every painting is made to order in our studio in Slovenia, so allow 15 to 45 days depending on the size you choose. We ship it stretched and protected for transport, framed if you chose a frame, across the EU with no customs. Before dispatch you receive a photograph of the finished work to approve; if anything is not right, we correct it while the canvas is still in our workshop. Our returns policy applies to every order.

If it is a present and you do not know the right size, there is a wall art voucher. Every other Klimt work we paint is in the Gustav Klimt gallery, and there is more on the painter in our article ten interesting facts about Gustav Klimt.

Frequently asked questions

Where is Klimt’s Apple Tree I today?

The painting is in a private collection and is not on permanent view. Until 2006 it was in the Belvedere in Vienna; then the Austrian state handed it back to the heirs of Ferdinand and Adele Bloch-Bauer. In November 2006 it was sold at Christie’s in New York for about 33 million dollars. If you want it at home, we paint it for you by hand in oil.

What does Klimt’s Apple Tree I show?

It shows a single apple tree with a large round crown that fills almost the whole square canvas. Red apples glow among blue-green and green leaves, a thin dark trunk runs down the middle, and below lies a meadow of white, yellow, pink, violet and red flowers. There are no people in it, only the tree, the fruit and the flowers.

When was Apple Tree I painted?

It was painted around 1912. Klimt worked in oil on canvas, in the almost square size of 109 x 110 cm, as one of the square landscapes of his summer stays at the Attersee. The Roman numeral I sets it apart from Klimt’s second apple tree, which you will find with us under the title Apple Tree II.

Is your Apple Tree I really painted by hand?

Yes. Every apple tree we send is a canvas painting made by hand in oil, from the first drawing of the crown to the last flower in the meadow. That is why the strokes on the apples can be seen and felt, as the fourth and seventh photographs show. Before dispatch we send you a photograph of the finished painting so you can approve it or ask for a correction.

Which size of Apple Tree I matches the original?

The 110 x 110 cm size comes closest, because the original measures 109 x 110 cm. If you have less space, there are smaller sizes down to 60 x 60 cm, and for a large wall 120 x 120 and 150 x 150 cm. Every size is square, so the balance between the crown and the meadow never changes.

Which frame suits Apple Tree I?

A silver-gold frame suits it best, like the one in the first photograph, where our copy hangs on a white wall. It brings out the light strokes in the crown and goes well with the red apples. A dark frame with a thin gold edge, as in the sixth photograph, also works. You can compare every profile in our 3D application, and without a frame the canvas arrives stretched and ready to hang.

Which room suits Apple Tree I?

It looks best in a bright room: in the living room above the sofa, in a kitchen or dining area, and in the bedroom above the bed. Its greens and reds sit well with wood, white walls and house plants. With no figures in it, it never dominates a room, and its colours lift a wall that would otherwise feel empty and cold.

Is Apple Tree I a good gift?

Yes, this apple tree makes a welcome gift because it is cheerful, colourful and free of personal subjects, so it suits almost any home, including a move into a new house. If you do not know the size of the wall, a voucher is the better present, since the person receiving it chooses the size and frame.

How do I care for Apple Tree I in oil?

Oil paint is durable, so care is simple. Hang the painting away from direct sun and radiators, and dust it now and then with a soft, dry cloth or brush, without water or cleaning products. The canvas is stretched over a wooden stretcher, so do not lean it against sharp edges. That way the red apples and the green crown stay alive for many years.

• Subject: a single apple tree with a round crown full of red apples above a meadow of bright flowers.
• Original: about 1912, oil on canvas, 109 x 110 cm, private collection.
• Ours: a Klimt reproduction painted by hand in oil on canvas, in eight square sizes or made to measure.
• Worth knowing: the 110 x 110 cm size is almost the size of the original, and you approve a photograph before dispatch.