The Tree of Life (L'Arbre de Vie), Stoclet Frieze

Gustav Klimt

Tempera, watercolor, and gold on paper (preparatory study; executed mosaic incorporates gold leaf, enamel, semiprecious stones, marble, and ceramics)

MAK – Museum of Applied Arts, Vienna

The Tree of Life (L'Arbre de Vie), Stoclet Frieze is a monumental preparatory study by Austrian Symbolist painter Gustav Klimt, created between 1905 and 1909 as the central panel design for a commissioned mosaic cycle at the Palais Stoclet in Brussels. The composition depicts a richly ornamental, spiraling tree whose twisting branches fill the picture plane, flanked by a solitary standing female figure and an embracing couple—together representing waiting, the cycle of life, and fulfillment. Executed in Klimt's signature golden style, the work synthesizes influences from Byzantine mosaic art, ancient Egyptian motifs, and Japanese decorative prints into a densely patterned, jewel-like surface. As one of the defining works of Klimt's Golden Phase, it stands as a masterwork of the Vienna Secession and the broader Art Nouveau movement, embodying the ideal of the Gesamtkunstwerk—the total work of art.