10 paintings to get you in the mood for spring
.jpg)
As the weather improves and the evenings become brighter, thoughts turn to outdoor pursuits and warmer days. Here are 10 paintings to help get you in the mood for spring
Woman at a Window, Caspar David Friedrich (1822)
Woman at a Window, Caspar David Friedrich (1822). Nationalgalerie, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin
If there is one colour that brings spring to mind it has to be green. This painting, by the German Romantic painter, Caspar David Friedrich, is a veritable study of verdant hues, from the woman's dress and the pine-green shutters to the poplar trees growing across the bay. This is the artist's wife, Caroline, looking down at the boats below. The scene is open to interpretation, but we can all relate to the need for fresh air after a winter of being confined indoors.
Spring (Fruit Trees in Bloom), Claude Monet (1873)
Spring (Fruit Trees in Bloom), Claude Monet (1873). The Met Museum, New York
Better weather brings with it blossoms and the promise of fruit. Monet painted this orchard scene near his home in Argenteuil and it perfectly evokes a warm spring day and the hope of summer.
Plum Trees in Blossom, Éragny, Camille Pissarro (1894)
Camille Pissarro, Plum Trees in Blossom, Éragny, (1894). Ordrupgaard Museum, Denmark
This painting by Pissarro shows the garden of his home in Éragny, where he moved with his family in 1884. Pissarro loved to paint ordinary people going about their lives without pomp or circumstance. He was a pioneer of Impressionism, a style of painting perfectly suited to dappled light and springtime blooms.
Fishing in Spring, the Pont de Clichy (Asnières), Vincent Van Gogh (1887)
Fishing in Spring, the Pont de Clichy (Asnières), Vincent Van Gogh (1887). Van Gogh Museum
What could be better than messing about in boats in the springtime? Here, van Gogh has captured a river scene with bright hues and his characteristic energy.
The Black Brook, John Singer Sargent (1908)
The Black Brook, John Singer Sargent (1908). Tate
This is Sargent's niece Rose-Marie Ormond, who was 15 when this canvas was painted in northern Italy. Rose-Marie was Sargent's travelling companion and one of his favourite subjects. This images is so loosely painted, it could almost be a watercolour.
Louis Comfort Tiffany, Joaquin Sorolla, (1911)
Louis Comfort Tiffany, Joaquin Sorolla, (1911) Hispanic Society Museum and Library, New York
Here is Louis Comfort Tiffany, glass designer and first design director of Tiffany & Co., in his glorious garden. This is one of Joaquin Sorolla's early commissions and it helped launch his career in the US. Sorolla had a real knack for capturing light and here the glorious yellows and purples sing of springtime.
Spring, Dame Laura Knight (1916–20)
Spring, Dame Laura Knight (1916–20). Tate
This is a detail of Dame Laura Knight's painting of Lamorna Valley in Cornwall. A fisherman examines the fly at the end of his fishing line, while the woman next to him holds his bag. This joyful scene, which includes lambs, a horse ploughing fields and children playing in the distance, was made during the First World War, at a time when painting outdoors was illegal. Knight said of making this image: 'I had to lie on my stomach under a gorse or any other convenient bush, in dread of being taken off to prison, to make a line or two in a sketch book.'
Garden Path in Spring, Duncan Grant (1944)
Garden Path in Spring, Duncan Grant (1944). Tate (not currently on display)
This carefully tended garden is part of the estate at Charleston in East Sussex, former home of Vanessa Bell and Duncan Grant, two prominent members of the Bloomsbury group, which also included Virginia Woolf and the art critic Roger Fry. This painting depicts a blossom-filled idyll during the Second World War. Grant was a conscientious objector, and, at time when most gardens were being turned into allotments in line with the governments call to 'dig for victory,' this flowery haven was a rare luxury.
Hawthorne Blossom Near Rudston, David Hockney (2008)
Hawthorne Blossom Near Rudston, David Hockney (2008)
Hockney has painted all the seasons in his native Yorkshire. Just as Monet was fascinated with shifting colours and light throughout the year, Hockney (who is a fan of the Impressionist painter), braved all weathers to capture the landscapes around his home. Here, we see a country lane near the village of Rudston, with cow parsley and hawthorn hedges in full bloom.
Believe in Extraordinary, Tracey Emin (2015)
Believe in Extraordinary, Tracey Emin (2015)
Tracey Emin made this image to commemorate Team GB’s participation in the first European Games in Baku, Azerbaijan, but birds are a recurring motif in her work. Emin loves the fragile nature of our feathered friends and has called them 'angels of this earth'. They are also the perfect creatures to herald the spring.
