Gustav Klimt (July 14, 1862 – February 6, 1918) was an Austrian symbolist painter and one of the most prominent members of the Vienna Secession movement. Klimt is noted for his paintings, murals, sketches and other art objects. Klimt"s primary subject was the female body; his works are marked by a frank eroticism. The Tree of Life 1909 by Gustav Klimt The Tree of Life is an important symbol in nearly every culture. With its branches reaching into the sky and roots deep in the earth, it dwells in three worlds-a link between heaven, the earth and the underworld, uniting above and below. It is both a feminine symbol, bearing sustenance and a masculine, visibly phallic symbol-another union.