Gallery of World Tree Art

Tim Mandzyuk
Western Art
Corot painted this in the summer near
Fontainebleu forest in France. The forest was
known for its great oak trees and so he wanted to
paint a representation of the forest and what it was
know for. He painted in a naturalistic style. Corot
later included this art in a much larger artwork
called Hagar in the Wilderness. I chose this
artwork because it uses trees as the main subject of
its work, which fits my theme. Also, I like how the
tree looks very realistic, yet its only a painting.
Artist: Camille Corot
Title: Fontainebleau: Oak Trees at Bas-Breau
Date:1832 or 1833
Medium: Oil on paper
Culture: European
Western Art
Claude drew this painting in Rome. In the
background we can see a building which once was
a medieval fortress but now today a country house.
It belonged to the aristocratic Crescenzi family and
thus is why the painting is given its name. Claude
Lorrain often painted landscapes with things such
as buildings in the background. I chose this art for
my museum because it had lots of trees in it and
also, like the previous painting, it looks very
Artist: Claude Lorrain
realistic.
Title: View of La Crescenza
Date: 1648-1650
Medium: Oil on canvas
Culture: European
Asian Art
This painting is actually a doorway from Japan that
is sixteen feet long. It is a huge and old plum tree.
The art portrays a scene of early spring and is
symbolic of birth and renewal. These doors were
once in a Zen temple in Kyoto. I chose to include
this art in my museum because most tree art is a
painting or drawing; however, this is very unique
and is painted onto a door. Also, it is very unique Artist: Kano Sansetsu
Title: Old Plum
that this tree holds symbolism as most trees dont.
Date: 1646
Medium: Four sliding-door panels
Culture: Japanese
Asian Art
This bottle comes from the Takeo kilns which is a
type of stoneware that has a layer of white over
almost the entire medium. The white slip was used
to provide contrast to the black clay and made for
a more appealing ceramic. The tree is there to
serve as decoration on the ceramic. I chose this
ceramic work to include in my museum because
its interesting to see that some cultures used trees
to decorate their dishes when they could have used
prettier things such as cool designs or flowers. Artist: Unknown
Title: Bottle with Decoration of Pine Tree
Date: 17th century
Medium: Stoneware with paint
Culture: Japanese
Contemporary Asian Art
Based off of traditional paintings of ancient plum
trees, this bronze sculpture portrays emotions and
feeling in its work. Although it appears in harsh
condition, the tree continues to grow upward. Its
crooked branches with twisted roots suggest
symbolism of survival or renewal. For this reason I
chose to use this art, because of the emotions it
portrays from a simple tree statue.

Artist: Zeng Fanzhi

Title: Untitled
Date: 2009
Medium: Bronze
Culture: Chinese
Contemporary Asian Art
Unlike most of the other trees in my gallery, this is
the only photographed one. The tree photographed
here is a ginko tree and stands as a reminder of the
passage of time in Japanese culture. I chose to
include this in my museum because it is unique in
the sense that it focuses mostly on the leaves of a
tree. The tree is the dark part in the image and the
leaves provide the contrast to make the tree stand
out.
Artist: Yoho Tsuda
Title: Tree with Yellow Leaves
Date: 1980
Medium: Chromogenic print
Culture: Japanese
North American Tribal Art
Harrison Begay was a renowned Navajo painter
and one of the most famous Native American
painters of his time. He often painted images of
Native American people or animals, such as Horse
and Colt. Native American paintings are often
done in a way such that only the subject of art was
drawn, so many Native American painting only
include one person with no background. The
reason I chose to use this art in my gallery is Artist: Harrison Begay
because I had a hard time finding a Native Title: Horse and Colt
American artwork that was focused on a tree, and Date: Mid-20th century
Medium: Silkscreen
this work had trees in the background.
Culture: Native American
African Art
Because being an artist is very uncommon for
people from Africa, there were schools set up in
Nigeria where artist could experiment with
different materials and practice their art. Tunde
Odunlade went to one of these schools where
printmaking was a main focus of the work. He
then made this artwork which was later printed in
2012. I chose this artwork because it gives a unique
perspective on a tree. It gives a close up of the bark
and design of a tree. Artist: Tunde Odunlade
Title: Mother Nature
Date: 1992
Medium: Woodcut on paper
Culture: African
Contemporary Western Art
Joseph Smolinski is a modern political artist who
often draws about ideas relating to nature. In this
art specifically, there is a single tree growing all by
itself. I think this is symbolic of how people are
cutting down forests and there are becoming less
and less trees. I included this work in my gallery
because I like how the tree is such a big part of the
art yet there is only one and its not even that big.
It gives a toughness to the tree and symbolises that Artist: Joseph Smolinski
there is hope to restore the trees. Title: Tree Turbine
Date: 2007
Medium: Unknown
Culture: American
Contemporary Western Art
Sheila Hicks made this tapestry for King Saud
University from Saudi Arabia. She worked on it
with three other people in her studio in Paris. She
weaved it based on traditional weaving methods
from the town where her studio is in France. I
chose to include this artwork in my museum
because when people think of trees they dont
typically think of a palm tree. I think having a
Artist: Sheila Hicks
tapestry of a palm tree would be unique to have in
Title: Palm Tree
my museum. Also, I really like the use of color in Date: 1984-1985
this piece. Medium: Wool, cotton, rayon, silk, linen
Culture: American
Middle Eastern Art
Muin Musavvir was one of the most famous
painters of his time period in the middle east. In
his painting here, he draws an ascetic, a person
who is very self disciplined, meditating. Although a
tree isnt the main focus of the drawing, the trees
in the background are colorful while everything
else is black and white which gives them some
significance in the art. The trees are potentially
symbolic of life while the ascetic appears almost
dead. Also, there isnt much art that includes trees
Artist: Muin Musavvir
in the middle east and I thought this one included Title: Ascetic in Meditation
trees the most. Date: 17th century
Medium: Ink and watercolor on paper
Culture: Iranian
Ancient Greek Art
In ancient Greece, it was common for rich families
to have many slaves to do their hard work for
them. This vase demonstrates an example of this,
where there is a picture of slaves hitting olives
from a tree. Not much is known about this vase in
particular, but it was the only image I could find
from ancient times that related to a tree. This
demonstrates that trees probably werent a big part
of ancient Greek culture.
Artist: Unknown
Title: None
Date: Unknown
Medium: Ceramic
Culture: Ancient Greek
Other
This painting was painted in Collioure, which was
a town in the Mediterranean that drew the
attention of many painters near the early 1900s.
Henri Matisse was inspired to paint this way due
to the way many artists were painting at the time
in this style, using vibrant colors and making the
art look abstract. I chose this art for my museum
because its main subject appear to be the trees but
it is presented in a very unique and abstract way. It
is very colorful and looks very cool.
Artist: Henri Matisse
Title: Olive Trees at Collioure
Date: 1906
Medium: Oil on canvas
Culture: European