Tree = life

5:46 p.m.

The thick ombú tree that Prilidiano Pueyrredón (Buenos Aires, 1823 -1870) painted in the work "Un alto en el campo", became one of the most recognized masterpieces of Argentine Art of the 19th century. With its leafy branches it offers shadow and protection to the tired traveller. The painting wanted to demonstrate that the Argentine Nation has, in its rural landscape, a source of its identity.

Un alto en el campo, by Prilidiano Pueyrredón (1861)

Technique: oil on canvas / Measures: 75.5 x 166.5 cm

MNBA

If Pueyrredón depicts a landscape that can be identified with Argentina as a country, in the 21st century, artist Ai Weiwei (Beijing, 1957) uses a tree to send a political message. This contemporary artist and social activist gathered fallen branches from all over China to create an artificial tree: an enormous wood sculpture called Iron Tree. He used it to express his desire for a new central unit in his country, far from the dictatorship that had him imprisoned in 2011.

Iron Tree, by Ai Weiwei (2013)

Technique: wood instalation - Grand Palais, París.

For the 55° Edition of the Biennale di Venezia, Berlinde De Bruyckere (Belgium, 1964) presented Kreupelhout – Cripplewood, at Belgium's Pavillion. An in situ installation that was the result of the dialogue between the city of Venice, its history, its art and the martyrdom of Saint Sebastian. The work is a summary of the fundamental issues that always inspire the artist: life and death.

According to De Bruyckere, Saint Sebastian is the most depicted saint in Venice. Art has shown his martyrdom tied to a tree with arrows across his entire body. The artist was particular stricken by the mental control of the Saint, his stoic acceptance of his destiny, the pride in his posture and the absence of all display of pain in his expressions. A combination of beauty and control: a mystical pain.

Kreupelhout – Cripplewood, by Berlinde De Bruyckere

Technique: installation / Belgium pavillion - Biennale di Venezia 2013

She discovers Saint Sebastian in the branches of this fallen tree. The Saint is not tied to the tree, instead he has become the tree itself. The red bandages seemed soaked in the blood of Saint Sebastian's wounds. The overwhelming strength irradiated from the enormous trunk personifies the determination and force of the Saint.

Kreupelhout – Cripplewood, by Berlinde De Bruyckere (detail)

Technique: installation / Belgium pavillion - Biennale di Venezia 2013

This spectacular installation is made by the grouping of branches that ressemble muscles, tendons and human bones. It looks like a wounded and convalescing being. Among the many branches, the bandages seek to bring relief to the pain.