The seasons are a well-known source of inspiration in the history of art, and Winter, with its white landscapes and feelings of nostalgia it is no exception. As early as the late Middle Ages and the early Renaissance, artists from Northern countries liked to depict Winter scenes. They painted everyday landscapes covered with snow, nature trapped beneath ice, men facing freezing temperatures, and children having fun on ice rinks.
The Impressionists used oil paint to play with color in their works of art. The iridescent blue strongly characterizes their paintings and gives their works a recognizable yet distorted sense of reality. Claude Monet's famous masterpiece The Magpie marks the beginning of Impressionism. Winter is for Monet, the contrast between the bright and blurred aspects of the landscape.
Winter also evokes the great snow-covered plains of Russia, where it appears no living being can survive because the air is so dry and freezes the bones. Birch trees are camouflaged in the snowfields, yet sometimes a ray of sunshine softens the bleak expanse and warms our hearts. Sunset at the Stream by Russian artist Yuriy Demiyanov is a testament to this, depicting a frozen stream where the water no longer flows and is stopped by snow. The trees are bare and seem to be at the mercy of the wind. Snow covers the whole landscape, yet does not sparkle on the branches of the trees. However, the orange and red tones of the setting sun warm the canvas and take away the dreary impression that the landscape takes on after the effects of the cold.
Man's gaze never tires of icy landscapes and snowy cities. Hence why photography is also a popular means of immortalizing wintery scenes. A favored subject choice of Mark Fisher is mountains, a terrain he knows particularly well. The inhospitable climates he has faced have led him to title one of his photographs of a mountain peak Sympathy for the Devil. On the other hand, photography can also bring out all the softness and poetry that emanates from this winter whiteness. The artist Christian Girard reflects this in one of his pictures of snow and its forms, named Tenderness.
Finally, the themes of Winter are above all whiteness, the cold, absence and minimalism, which are also highly prevalent in contemporary art. Discover our selection by young contemporary artists and recognized talents, of sculpture, paintings and photography... there is something for everyone!
