“The big pine tree in front of the house, standing still and unconcerned and alive...the overshadowing tree whose green top one never looks at... One goes out of the door and the tree-trunk is there, like a guardian angel. The tree-trunk, the long work table and the fence!”— D. H. Lawrence
One of my favorite paintings is “The Lawrence Tree” by Georgia O’Keefe. To be truthful, I always thought this was a picture of a great oak tree, mostly because we once had a huge oak in our front yard, and this painting has always reminded me of that majestic tree.
But the Lawrence Tree was not an oak, it was a Ponderosa Pine, and it may still be living in Taos New Mexico. These are long-lived beings, and I read that (as of a few years ago) it was still there. This huge tree was on the ranch of D. H. Lawrence, the writer. Under the tree was a bench and a table where Lawrence sat and wrote his books.
O’Keeffe visited the Lawrences family and painted this tree from the perspective of someone lying on the bench. As the viewpoint is a bit ambiguous, the painting has been hung different ways, according to the ideas of the owner. In some cases, the top of the tree is in the lower right, but I prefer the trunk at the bottom as that way seems more comfortable.
Looking at this painting, we can almost hear the wind in the branches. The beautiful tree (with the stars in the background) is a haunting piece of work. It looks as if the branches are dancing in the night—unaware of and unconcerned with anything else that may be happening and scattering their free gift of oxygen to the universe. Surely, the great tree overhead encourages dreaming and creating, and the soft breeze in the branches whispers that most anything might be possible—including the writing of elegant stories.
It is a beautiful painting, and probably a magnificent tree.
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