Pine Tree
Giovanni Segantini, c. 1897
Giovanni Segantini lived in the Alps and painted what he saw there. This picture of a pine tree, made around 1897, is shown from very close up, with a flat, decorative space instead of a deep landscape.
The Cleveland Museum of Art says this was designed to stir emotion more than to copy nature. Segantini used brilliant colours in small, broken strokes. He found spiritual comfort in the forests and clear light around his home, and he wrote that he was working passionately to wrest the secret of Nature's spirit from her.
The canvas is tall and narrow, about 135 by 72 centimetres without its frame. The shape suits a tree, and it makes the viewer look up along the trunk.
From the museum record
| Artist | Giovanni Segantini |
|---|---|
| Date | c. 1897 |
| Medium | Oil on canvas |
| Size | Unframed: 135.2 x 72 cm |
| Museum | The Cleveland Museum of Art |
| Credit line | Mr. and Mrs. William H. Marlatt Fund |
| Accession number | 1982.124 |
| Licence | Open Access (CC0) |
Source: The Cleveland Museum of Art collection record. Facts such as dates, sizes and credit lines come from that record. The write-up above was drafted with AI assistance and checked against the museum record and standard references. Spotted a mistake? Tell us.
