Top 8 Winter Landscapes to Help You Feel the Holiday Spirit

The holidays are approaching, so we have put together a top ten of winter paintings by modern and contemporary painters. While capturing winter in a painting is nothing unusual today, in earlier times it was not a particularly common subject. Most often, winter served merely as a backdrop for depicting religious and historical events that took place during that season. Winter as a central subject in painting has been explored for several centuries now, reaching its peak with Impressionism.

Winter did not appear in Western art until the 15th century. The first true winter painting is considered to be Pieter Bruegel the Elder's "The Hunters in the Snow," painted in 1565 (the artist painted a series of works depicting all 12 months).

During the Northern Renaissance, winter, like other landscapes, began to be painted by great artists, since with the rise of Protestantism, painting religious subjects was forbidden in Protestant countries. Landscape painting spread and reached other European countries. In this way, the winter landscape, like other types of landscape, became a common and recognised subject in visual art.

Later, during the Romantic period, winter themes flourished in art. Landscape painters of the time chose to paint winter for its melancholy and cold romanticism. However, winter was painted most of all during the Impressionist period. The Impressionists painted outdoors, drawn to everyday life and the living light of day. They found beauty in light - painting outside, in the changing daylight, which transformed both the object itself and the landscape. Camille Pissarro, Claude Monet, and Alfred Sisley painted an especially large number of winter paintings, using the effets de neige (snow effect) method, in which the snow itself - its fall, its texture - guided the artist in how to paint the picture. Claude Monet created more than 140 winter paintings.

Winter paintings can convey calm and peace to the viewer, or they can evoke a sense of unease, where the fragility of existence seems to be reflected in a desolate winter landscape. Below, we look at ten winter works and see how this theme is treated in modern and contemporary art.

Katsushika Hokusai - Cranes on Branch of Snow-covered Pine, circa 1820.

The Japanese artist Hokusai created this winter print, focusing on the subtle balance between the cranes and the whiteness of the snow-covered pine branches.

Pierre-Auguste Renoir - Skaters in the Bois de Boulogne, 1868.

One of the leading Impressionist artists, Renoir painted the world around him. In this painting he chose ice skating as his subject - one of the most popular leisure activities among Parisians of the time during the winter season. He transformed it wonderfully into an intricate and vivid landscape painting.

Claude Monet – Boulevard Saint Denis, 1875.

The most prolific of the Impressionist painters, Monet often painted in series, depicting the same object or landscape in different light. In this painting he reveals the effect of light in the city during winter.

Paul Gauguin – Winter Landscape, 1879.

Although Gauguin is better known as a Post-Impressionist painter, Impressionist influence is still present in this painting.

Vincent van Gogh – Landscape with Snow, 1888.

This painting is considered to be the first painting Van Gogh made in Arles, at the age of 35. Between 1882 and 1889 he created more than ten winter landscapes of this region in watercolour and oil.

Edvard Munch – New Snow in the Avenue, 1906

Inspired by 19th-century Symbolism, Edvard Munch is known for his visual portrayals of psychological states. In this painting he employs his linear style and colour palette to create a winter scene that hints at deeper meaning.

Wassily Kandinsky – Winter Landscape, 1911.

Kandinsky, known as the first artist to paint an abstract picture, changed styles throughout his career. His theory of painting held that only through abstraction could art achieve a deep and transcendent expression. In this landscape the objective world is still visible, but the choice of colours already indicates that the artist would soon move towards abstraction.

Franz Marc – Hocken im Schnee, 1911.

Franz Marc was a member of German Expressionism. He was one of the founders of the journal "Der Blaue Reiter," in which he collaborated with Kandinsky. Marc's style is characterised by the use of primary colours and a simplified depiction of objects and animals, as can be seen in this painting as well.