Description
Roses under the Trees is a garden that Gustav Klimt painted around 1905: the crown of a single fruit tree fills almost the whole square canvas with thousands of small dabs of green, blue-green and violet, scattered with tiny yellow and orange fruits, while pink, white and red roses climb up from the pale meadow below. Until 2022 it hung in the Musée d’Orsay in Paris; today it is in a private collection. Each copy is painted by hand for you in oil on canvas, in eight square sizes from 60 x 60 to 150 x 150 cm or made to measure, and before it leaves our studio you approve a photograph of the finished work.
| Title: | Roses under the Trees |
| Other titles: | Rosen unter Bäumen · Rose Bushes under the Trees · Roses Among the Trees |
| Painter: | Gustav Klimt (1862–1918) |
| Year painted: | about 1905 |
| Original size: | 110 cm x 110 cm |
| Original technique: | Oil on canvas |
| Painting style: | Vienna Secession, landscape |
| Located at: | Private collection; until 2022 in the Musée d’Orsay, Paris |
| Our reproduction: | Hand-painted oil on canvas, eight square sizes or made to measure |
Roses under the Trees – Gustav Klimt
What does the painting show?
Almost the whole canvas is one tree. Its crown spreads from edge to edge and is built from thousands of small dabs of colour – many greens, blue-green, violet and grey – among which little yellow and orange fruits shine like scattered lights. Only in the top right corner does a tiny patch of sky open, with a single white cloud.
At the bottom runs a strip of pale green meadow. In the middle stands the short trunk of the tree, and a second trunk appears further to the right. On both sides, at the lower left and the lower right, a rose bush climbs into the foliage, covered with round pink and white blossoms and a few red ones. In the lower left corner Klimt signed the canvas GUSTAV KLIMT.
Why was Roses under the Trees returned in 2022?
Because it had been sold under duress. In 1938 the painting belonged to Nora Stiasny, a member of a Jewish family in Austria. That year she was forced to sell it, and she later became a victim of the Holocaust.
Decades later, in 1980, the French state bought the painting without knowing this history, and it hung in the Musée d’Orsay in Paris. When its past came to light, it was restituted in 2022 to the descendants of its original owner. Since then it has been in a private collection, and the garden that belonged to the French state for more than forty years is no longer on show in a public museum.
A garden that becomes a surface of colour
Klimt leaves out almost everything that would give the view depth: the meadow is pushed down to the bottom edge, the sky shrinks to a corner, and the crown covers the canvas like a woven carpet. What remains is a field of small strokes in which leaves, fruits and roses carry the same weight, and nature itself turns into ornament.
On your wall this means a calm but lively surface. From across the room you see a green, softly shimmering square with warm points of pink and orange; up close you discover the separate dabs, the violet shadows and the tiny fruits. It brings a garden into the room without a single loud colour, and the longer you look, the more there is to find.
Where is the original today?
The original is in a private collection. It is painted in oil on canvas, measures 110 x 110 cm and is signed GUSTAV KLIMT at the lower left. From 1980 until 2022 it belonged to the French state and hung in the Musée d’Orsay; after the restitution it left the museum. You will find it, with its date and size, in Wikipedia’s list of paintings by Gustav Klimt.
So a hand-painted version is the way to have this garden on your own wall. Ours is not a print but a painting made for you by hand, and our 110 x 110 cm size is exactly the size of Klimt’s canvas.
Roses under the Trees among Klimt’s fruit trees
Landscapes make up a large part of Klimt’s work, and most of them are square, like this one. He painted many of them during summer holidays in the Austrian countryside, often on Lake Attersee, and fruit trees and gardens return in them again and again. Roses under the Trees joins two of these themes – an orchard tree and a flowering garden – in a single view. More about the painter’s life is on Wikipedia’s Klimt page.
Four more of his fruit-tree paintings are in our gallery: Pear Tree, Apple Tree I, Apple Tree II and Fruit Trees. Their titles name the tree; Roses under the Trees is the one whose title gives first place to the roses. Choose it if you want flowers and a touch of pink in your view of the garden.
How do we paint Roses under the Trees by hand?
Our painter starts with the drawing: the outline of the great crown, the two trunks, the line of the meadow and the shapes of the two rose bushes. Then come the first thin layers – the base greens and blue-greens of the foliage, the pale green of the grass and the small piece of sky in the corner.
After that the painting is built up dab by dab, the way Klimt built it: thousands of small touches of green, violet and grey, the yellow and orange fruits, and finally the round pink, white and red roses and the signature. A printed oil painting reproduction would give you one flat, shiny layer; a painting made by hand keeps the relief of every stroke, which catches the light differently through the day. Each one is a hand-painted copy made only for your order.
The original contains no gold, so neither does our version – only oil colours, like Klimt’s canvas.
Which size for which wall?
The quick answer: 60 x 60 or 70 x 70 cm for a hallway, a study or a narrow wall; 80 x 80 or 90 x 90 cm for a bedroom or above a sideboard; 100 x 100 or 110 x 110 cm above a sofa or a dining table; 120 x 120 or 150 x 150 cm for a large living room wall. The 110 x 110 cm size is exactly the size of the original.
Every size is square, like Klimt’s canvas, so the composition stays complete. Because the crown is made of thousands of tiny dabs, a larger size lets you see the brushwork more clearly; from 100 x 100 cm upwards the painting holds a wall on its own. As a painting for the living room, its many greens calm a busy room. In a bedroom or a dining room the roses add a soft, warm note.
A good hanging height places the centre of the canvas at about eye level, 150 to 160 cm from the floor. Above a sofa or sideboard, keep 20 to 30 cm of wall between furniture and canvas, and choose a width of roughly two thirds of the furniture below.
Custom size, stretcher and frame
Need a size that is not on the list? We paint it to measure; to keep the composition intact, stay square or close to square. Tell us the width and height and we will send you the price and delivery time. All our paintings arrive stretched on a wooden stretcher, ready to hang.
To choose a frame, open our 3D application: it puts each of our frame mouldings on this subject, so you can try gold, silver, black, white and natural wood side by side; it serves only for choosing the frame. To see the painting on your own wall, ask for our separate room placement service. A natural wood frame suits the garden subject, a slim gold frame picks up the small yellow and orange fruits, and white keeps the greens fresh.
Delivery and guarantee
We paint each order in our studio in Slovenia, so the painting takes 15 to 45 days, depending on its size. It travels stretched and well protected, framed if you ordered a frame, anywhere in the EU without customs. Before it is sent, we e-mail you a photograph of the finished painting for your approval, and if something should be changed, we change it while the canvas is still with us. Every order is covered by our returns policy.
Giving it as a present and unsure of the size? Our gift voucher lets the recipient choose. Browse more works in our Gustav Klimt gallery or read our article 10 interesting facts about Gustav Klimt.
Frequently asked questions
Where is the original Roses under the Trees by Klimt?
It is in a private collection. It belonged to the French state from 1980 and hung in the Musée d’Orsay in Paris until 2022, when it was restituted to the descendants of its original owner. The painting is oil on canvas and measures 110 x 110 cm, and our 110 x 110 cm size is exactly the size of the original.
Why did France give back Klimt’s Roses under the Trees?
Because the painting had been sold under duress. In 1938 Nora Stiasny, from a Jewish family in Austria and later a victim of the Holocaust, was forced to sell it. The French state bought it in 1980 without knowing this history, and in 2022 it was restituted to the descendants of its original owner.
When was Roses under the Trees painted?
Klimt painted it around 1905, when landscapes had already become an important part of his work. Like most of his landscapes, it is square, painted in oil on canvas and fairly large, 110 x 110 cm. Fruit trees and gardens appear in several more of his landscapes, but here the roses share the stage with the tree.
What does Klimt’s Roses under the Trees show?
It shows one large fruit tree whose crown fills almost the whole canvas in small dabs of green, blue-green, violet and grey, with little yellow and orange fruits. Below lies a pale green meadow with two trunks, and two rose bushes with pink, white and a few red roses climb at the lower left and right.
Is there gold in Roses under the Trees?
No. The painting is a garden in green, blue-green, violet and grey with points of pink, yellow and orange, and its glow comes from colour, not from metal. We paint our version with oil colours only, without gold paint, exactly like the original, so the greens and the roses stay natural.
Which size of Roses under the Trees should I choose?
For a hallway or study choose 60 x 60 or 70 x 70 cm; for a bedroom or above a sideboard 80 x 80 or 90 x 90 cm; above a sofa 100 x 100 or 110 x 110 cm; and for a big wall 120 x 120 or 150 x 150 cm. The 110 x 110 cm size matches the original exactly.
Which room suits Roses under the Trees?
A living room, bedroom, dining room or a bright hallway – any room that would gain from a garden view. As a canvas painting it pairs well with white, sage, cream or soft pink walls, natural wood, linen and plants. It is especially good for a city flat without a garden, where it brings green onto the wall all year.
Is Roses under the Trees a good gift?
Yes, for anyone who enjoys gardens, roses, trees or Klimt’s quieter landscapes. Its square format and calm subject suit almost any home, and it has no gold that must match the furniture. For a safe choice, 80 x 80 cm fits most walls; if you do not know the room, a gift voucher lets the recipient choose the size.
How long does it take to paint Roses under the Trees?
Between 15 and 45 days, depending on the size. The crown is made of thousands of small dabs, and each one is placed by hand, layer after layer, so a large canvas needs more time than a small one. Before we send it, you receive a photograph of the finished painting for your approval.
- Subject: a fruit tree whose crown fills the canvas, two rose bushes with pink, white and red roses, and a pale green meadow.
- Original: about 1905, oil on canvas, 110 x 110 cm, private collection; until 2022 in the Musée d’Orsay, Paris.
- Our version: a Klimt reproduction, painted by hand in oil on canvas in eight square sizes or to measure.
- Good to know: you approve a photograph of the finished painting before we send it.
