Tree Symbolism in Art

What does a tree symbolize in art?

A tree stands for the link between earth and sky: roots below, one trunk, a canopy above. Nearly every old culture drew one at the center of the world: the Norse ash Yggdrasil, the tree of life in Eden, the Bodhi fig where the Buddha reached enlightenment. Gustav Klimt's Tree of Life, designed for the Stoclet Frieze in the first decade of the twentieth century, is the version most people picture, gold spirals climbing from a single trunk.

Painters then split that one idea by species and season. Caspar David Friedrich's The Solitary Tree of 1822 is a lone oak in a wide valley, endurance in one shape. Vincent van Gogh's Cypresses of 1889 turn the mourning tree into something writhing and alive. Piet Mondrian's The Gray Tree of 1911 strips a bare tree toward a grid of lines, a picture about structure, not loss. The next section turns those readings into pictures you can hang.

Which tree picture says what you want it to say?

Choose the species for the meaning, then the picture for the room. The table pairs each reading with the kind of picture to look for and the wall it suits.

If you are unsure, start from the wall and let the species follow. The Tree Wall Art collection holds lone trees, oak tunnels, willows and palms, so every row of the table has a picture to match.

How does a lone oak or a lone tree look on the wall?

A lone tree is the plainest tree picture and the one that carries a wide wall best. One shape, a lot of sky, nothing to compete. Serene Oak Tree in Autumn Light shows a broad old oak with low sun coming through its branches over a floor of fallen leaves. Lonely Tree on Field at Sunset sets one dark tree against an orange sky. Split Lone Tree in Field is half bare under a gray sky and half in leaf under blue, so the tree reads as winter and summer in a single picture.

These three come as a 1 Piece in 24 x 16, 36 x 24 and 48 x 32 inches. Hang a single piece with its center 57 to 60 inches from the floor, as our 57 and 60 inch hanging guide sets out, or 6 to 8 inches above furniture. A lone oak suits a study or an entry, where the meaning is strength and the picture has nothing else on the wall to argue with.

Pro tip: Cut a sheet of paper or card to the size you are considering, tape it to the wall for a day, and walk past it. A large canvas looks different on the wall than it does on a screen, and a day of walking past the paper settles the size faster than a tape measure.

Where does a willow or a cherry blossom canvas belong?

Both belong in the quiet rooms, and the bedroom comes first. Weeping Willow by a Wooden Bridge shows a willow hanging over a footbridge on a green lawn, which reads as gentleness and letting go. Cherry Blossoms at Tidal Basin lines a still lake with pale blossom, the tree meaning that comes closest to a mood rather than a virtue. Impasto Cherry Blossom Tree Painting is the painted version of the same idea.

Over a bed, leave 6 to 10 inches between the headboard and the bottom edge of the canvas, and size the piece to about two thirds of the bed's width: 38 to 42 inches for a queen at 60 inches, 48 to 52 inches for a king at 76 inches, per our above the bed guide. A 3 Horizontal set at 37 x 24 inches comes within an inch of the queen range. Summer Lake with Weeping Willows Panoramic comes as a 1 Piece at 36 x 12, 48 x 16 or 60 x 20 inches, and the 48 x 16 fits a king. Browse Bedroom Wall Art for the rest of the room.

What do birch forests and autumn canopies add to a living room?

They add warm color and a path for the eye, and they stay welcome long after October. Autumn Forest Path with Birch Trees runs a dirt track between white trunks under yellow and red leaves. Winter Birch Forest with Frozen Stream shows white trunks under snow instead, a cooler and calmer version of the same subject. Serene Oak Tree in Autumn Light is the single tree version.

In art an autumn tree is a tree in transition, change accepted. Our guide to fall wall art made of forests, not pumpkins explains why autumn landscapes stay on the wall all year, and why the path matters in forest wall art explains how a track gives the eye a way into the picture. A five panel star set fills a tall or open living room wall at up to 82 x 42 inches overall, larger than any single canvas. See Forest Wall Art and Fall Wall Art.

Should a tree canvas be panoramic or vertical?

Choose by the wall: panoramic for a wide, low wall, vertical for a narrow, tall one. Oak Tree Tunnel with Spanish Moss Panoramic is made for the wide format. The oaks arch over a road toward a vanishing point, and a single panoramic canvas runs 36 x 12 to 60 x 20 inches, with a three panel panoramic set reaching 73 x 24 overall. That suits the strip above a sofa, a headboard or a desk, as our guide to panoramic wall art as a shape, not a subject sets out.

Lone Frosted Tree at Pink Sunrise is a vertical picture: one bare, frost-covered tree under a pink sky, in 12 x 24, 18 x 36 and 24 x 48 inches, or as a three panel vertical set. It fits a hallway, the wall beside a door or the gap between two windows.

On a tall wall, put the center of the piece 57 to 60 inches from the floor. Our guide to vertical wall art for tall walls covers which subjects suit the shape. Browse Panoramic Wall Art and Vertical Wall Art.

What size and layout does a tree canvas need?

Size the canvas to the furniture below it, at about two thirds of its width. The table turns that rule into sizes we list for tree pictures.

The two rules agree here, which is not always so. When the sofa is lower or the canvas taller, the gap above the furniture wins, as our sofa wall art size guide explains.

What should you check before you hang a tree canvas?

• The wall width and the furniture width, measured and written down in inches.
• The center height: 57 to 60 inches on a bare wall, 6 to 8 inches above a sofa back, 6 to 10 inches above a headboard.
• The layout: a 1 Piece for a calm wall, a 3 Horizontal or 5 Star set for a wide one, a panoramic or vertical piece for an awkward one.
• Two fixings on anything wider than 30 inches, so the canvas cannot rotate out of level.
• That the picture matches the meaning you wanted, not just the species named in its title.

Watch out: A tree word in a title does not make the picture a quiet tree. The Tree Wall Art collection also holds a haunted trees night scene and a heart shaped tree, and the word oak also appears in the title of an Oakland Bay Bridge piece. Open the picture and read the layout options before you pick it for a room.