Experience winter through famous paintings.

Winter arrives, bringing with it vibrant festivals, the intoxicating aroma of chocolate and baked goods, a chilly atmosphere, and snowfall in colder climates. But what do artists see in winter, when the weather is at its harshest and gloomiest? Perhaps it's a love of nature, the harmony between people and animals, empathy for hardworking laborers, fun and parties on the ice, or a longing for a peaceful and warm life.

Winter scenes are generally more difficult to paint than summer scenes and were a relatively rare subject in Western art until the early Renaissance. As one of six paintings representing the seasons painted in the late 16th century, this workThe hunters in the snowPieter Bruegel's *The Great* marked a major shift from the symbolic representation of each season—a style traditionally prevalent in Europe—to a more realistic style. Only five of the series survive today; the painting depicting the summer scene has been permanently lost.

The hunters in the snowThe painting depicts a rustic rural scene on a winter day, with three hunters and their dogs returning home from a forest expedition. The trip seems rather unsuccessful, with only one man carrying a trophy that resembles a small fox. In front of them are the tiny footprints of a escaped hare. Spread out before them is a valley with a winding river and jagged mountain peaks in the distance. There is a watermill, its wheels frozen solid. Villagers are ice skating and playing hockey on the lake. This is not a typical Dutch landscape, and may not even resemble the Netherlands in the late 16th century. The 1560s were the time of the religious revolution in the Netherlands, and Bruegel may have intended to portray an idealized version of rural life, rather than the scene unfolding before them.

Hendrick Avercamp, another prominent Dutch landscape painter of the 17th century, specialized in painting the Netherlands in winter. While not as famous as Rembrandt or Vermeer, Avercamp's paintings were popular and commanded high prices even during his lifetime. Being deaf and mute, he possessed an exceptionally keen eye for observation. His works are colorful and vibrant, with meticulously crafted depictions of people harmoniously integrated with nature. He often incorporated sporting and recreational activities in the Netherlands in the early 17th century, with many paintings of ice skating on frozen lakes, partly because it was his favorite sport from childhood, and partly because the late 16th century (when Avercamp was a child) was one of the coldest periods in Europe, also known as the Little Ice Age.

Hendrick Avercamp wasn't the only artist fascinated by ice skating. Famous painters like Pierre-Auguste Renoir and Johan Mengels Culverhouse discovered the elegant beauty of this winter sport and immortalized its memorable moments in their paintings. In this painting...Ice skating on the Amstel RiverIn Adam van Breen's painting, the entire town seems to be pouring out to play on the river. The painting conveys the essence of ice skating in 17th-century Netherlands: it was not the privilege of a select few or a particular class, but a popular and practical winter activity for everyone, of all social classes. And the other painting...Ice skating near the city wallAnthony Beerstaaten's painting appears to depict a hockey scene. The reddish-brown tones of the painting suggest a short, cold, dark, and somewhat gloomy winter day, yet one that doesn't lack the joy of ice games, for example, in the distance, a horse can be seen pulling a boat carrying people across a river.

PictureWomen's Figure Skating Competition at Stadsgracht, LeeuwardenNicolaas Baur's painting depicts a figure skating competition held in Leeuwarden, Netherlands, in the early 19th century, with a fervent crowd of spectators. Speed ​​skating is one of the three skating disciplines included in the Winter Olympic Games and is a favorite sport of the Dutch. In New York, USA, figure skaters (and sometimes their dogs) often gather in Central Park, as in Charles Parsons' painting.Ice skating festivalIt recreates a glamorous event at an indoor ice rink, held to honor Queen Victoria's youngest son, Prince Arthur, who was living in Montreal at the time. Notably, this painting is a composite of over 150 photographs, taken by the pioneering Canadian photographer William Notman (1826-1891).

Another historically significant painting isWinterin the paintingFour SeasonsBy François Boucher, an icon of the 18th-century Rococo style. Instead of depicting nature or peasants, François Boucher portrays a young couple courting each other on a golden sleigh. The painting was created for Madame Pompadour, mistress of King Louis XV.

PictureSea iceCaspar David Friedrich's painting depicts a shipwreck during an Arctic expedition, a subject considered too unusual in the early 19th century. An iceberg completely engulfs the ship, resembling a tombstone. The beauty of nature amidst the ice completely overshadows human life. J.W.W. Turner's painting of a blizzard evokes a similar impression. In it, a Carthaginian general and his entourage are attacked by local guerrillas and overwhelmed by a blizzard in the Val d'Aosta region. The swirling blizzard, like a giant wave, reflects Turner's vision of the majestic power of nature.

The Impressionist painter Claude Monet was a master of winter scenes. He painted over 100 paintings on this theme. There's an anecdote that when Edouard Manet saw Monet's masterpiece of winter, he abandoned his intention to paint a similar subject.MagpieThis is Monet's greatest winter painting, depicting a lonely magpie on a fence at Etretat. But the most astonishing aspect of this work is the shadows cast on the snow, which are not only black but also strikingly blue.

The pristine white of snow has inspired countless artists, such as Camille Pissarro, Vincent van Gogh, Kazimir Malevich, and John Northcote Nash, whether it's the gentle snow-covered Paris, the rustic countryside fields, or the sharp and intense abstraction after a snowstorm. Perhaps this is because white snow is not an easy subject to paint: although white, the canvas cannot be left blank without color, and if color is to be added, what color should it be? The white of snow is never simply white, but a blend of pink, blue, yellow, purple... even black, creating a white landscape that still possesses impressive shades of light and dark, near and far.

In the early stages of his career, Wassili Kandinsky developed a style that combined rather mysterious color tones.Winter sceneryThis is the last painting in this style before he returned to absolute abstraction. In the painting, the yellow sky blends with green and white. The path leading to the small house in the center glows pink, and the hillsides are a rebellion of spontaneous splashes of color.Winter sceneryEdward Munch's work captures the depth of the Norwegian winter. The unexpected streaks of color across the snow-covered mountains—streams of green, blue, and pink—blend this peaceful imagery with emotion and excitement, creating Munch's masterpiece. And in...Fresh snow has fallen on the AvenueThe pristine white road creates a stark contrast with the brown, black, and red hues of the trees, the sky, and the passersby, forming a picture that exudes the chill of winter.

Theodore Rousseau was repeatedly rejected by the Paris Salon (the official art exhibition of the Academy of Arts from 1748 to 1890), but he later became one of the leading figures of the Barbizon – a group of mid-19th-century painters who often depicted the Fontainebleau forest.The winter forest at sunsetIt is a large, unfinished painting at the time of Rousseau's death. The painting does not depict the detailed appearance of the bare oak trees in the forest, but rather their realistic appearance and the surging emotions evoked by nature.

The Italian painter Giovanni Segantini was also fascinated by natural landscapes, especially the high mountains, where it felt like winter all year round. Orphaned at a young age, impoverished, uneducated, illiterate, exiled, and stateless, Segantini possessed exceptional artistic talent and was warmly received in Europe at the end of the 19th century. Unable to marry due to lack of legal documents, Segantini, along with his lover and children, frequently moved due to social ostracism; they left Italy and wandered to the Swiss mountains. There, he found a rich and powerful source of inspiration. He built a mobile studio high in the mountains to paint enormous oil paintings, often spending the night there. However, tragic fate did not abandon him; the cold, the intense work schedule, and the harsh altitude affected his health, and he fell ill and died at the age of 41.

When discussing winter paintings, one cannot overlook the depictions of Russian winters. The pristine white winter in Russia, though bone-chillingly cold, is always breathtakingly beautiful and a source of inspiration for many artists, including the renowned Impressionist Konstantin Korovin. Unlike his compatriot Kazimir Malevich, who used vibrant colors in his winter landscape paintings to attract attention, Korovin's paintings possess a subtle beauty of muted tones, portraying the harsh yet gentle and serene aspects of Russian life in the freezing cold. However, the enormous number of paintings of Russian winters by Korovin did not solely stem from his love for his homeland. In 1923, while in Paris for a solo exhibition, Korovin had all his paintings stolen, leaving him penniless. To make a living in the years that followed, he had to produce many paintings on the theme of Russian winters, which were very popular at the time.

Croatian winter landscapes possess a fairytale-like, romantic beauty. Along the small village roads, a thick, pristine layer of snow stretches out, covering the wooden roofs like whipped cream. The bare, leafless trees contribute to a uniquely rustic and peaceful scene, with a touch of innocence and purity, like illustrations from a fairy tale we read as children.

Perhaps that's the charm of winter. Despite the harsh weather and somewhat more desolate landscapes compared to other seasons, winter still appears in paintings with an incredibly diverse range of shades, from bright and cheerful to somber and dark, carrying the soul of the scenery and conveying the thoughts and feelings of the artist.

Huong Thao