This painting by Gustav Klimt has a very simple subject but, because of the considered placement of the four main trees, there is a beautiful linear balance that leads the eye into the painting and maintains interest.
Klimt’s placement of the distant trees also holds interest due, not only to their spacing across the picture plain, but also their varied placement back into the picture plane.
The broken white suggestion of a building in the distance acts as a well placed focal point. The eye is coaxed up through the foreground by the staggered trees, focuses on the building, then moves across the painting via the horizontal tree line.
Balance of Line
![Gustav Klimt [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/4897a5_66d4f17f99344e2b8f955ce291647970~mv2.jpg/v1/fill/w_721,h_730,al_c,q_85,usm_0.66_1.00_0.01,enc_auto/4897a5_66d4f17f99344e2b8f955ce291647970~mv2.jpg)
Gustav Klimt (1862-1918) “Birch Trees” (1900)
The wrought iron grid in this old French archway demonstrate balanced linear symmetry in an aesthetic solution to a practical security problem. The decorative design of graceful curves and varying line thickness disguise the fact that the real purpose of the object is to secure the opening.
Symmetrical Balance