From Henri De Toulouse-Lautrec to Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, discover winter artworks and winter paintings that masterfully capture the chilly season.

After all, the season is upon us – at least for those living in the northern hemisphere.

‘DANCING COUPLE IN THE SNOW [REVERSE]’ BY ERNST LUDWIG KIRCHNER

Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, Dancing Couple in the Snow [reverse], oil on canvas. 1928-1929. Ruth and Jacob Kainen Collection. Gift in Honor of the 50th Anniversary of the National Gallery of Art. Courtesy National Gallery of Art, Washington

The German painter Ernst Ludwig Kirchner (1880-1938) was a founder and a major figure in Die Brucke (The Bridge), the Dresden-based group of expressionist artists.

He often portrays the human figure, and his work is often characterised by intense colour, loose brushwork, and wild movement.

The winter-themed oil painting Dancing Couple In The Snow [Reverse] – part of the collection of the National Gallery of Art in Washington DC – features, as the title suggests, a couple moving side by side with a background that can only be snow.  

‘SKI JUMPER’ BY ERNST LUDWIG KIRCHNER

Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, Ski Jumper, c. 1936. Watercolour and graphite on board. Gift of Ruth Cole Kainen. Courtesy National Gallery of Art, Washington

Another winter piece by Kirchner, Ski Jumper, features a tournament in Switzerland, likely at the Bolgenschanze ski jumping hill.  

Following the outbreak of World War I and a nervous breakdown, the artist moved to the Alpine city of Davos in Switzerland – a winter sports destination – where he began to grow a fondness for mountain landscapes and winter scenes like this one. 

“Observation of movement has been for me a particularly fruitful source of creative inspiration. From that observation comes the increased awareness of life which is the source of all artistic works,” Kirchner once wrote.

‘SKI JUMP’ BY WILLIAM H JOHNSON

William H. Johnson, Ski Jump, ca. 1939-1946. Recto: tempera on paper verso: tempera and pencil on paper. Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of the Harmon Foundation.

It looks like Kirchner isn’t the only artist intrigued by the movement of ski jumps.

The African American expressionist painter William Henry Johnson (1901-1970) moved to Paris to study and later travelled through Europe and North Africa – including Norway, Sweden, and Tunisia – for over ten years before returning to the US.

Ski Jump was likely created shortly after his return. Alongside over 1,000 of the artist’s other works, the work entered the collection of the Smithsonian American Art Museum in Washington DC, in 1967. 

‘LITTLE NEMO IN SLUMBERLAND: CLIMBING THE GREAT NORTH POLE’ BY WINSOR MCCAY

Winsor McCay, Little Nemo in Slumberland: Climbing the Great North Pole, 1907. Pen and black ink and brush and black ink over graphite on paperboard. Purchased by the National Gallery of Art, 2008. Richard S. Zeisler Fund. Courtesy National Gallery of Art, Washington

Netflix’s recent fantasy adventure film release, Slumberland, is based on the weekly full-page comic strips by American cartoonist Winsor McCay (1869(?)-1934), “Little Nemo in Slumberland”, which ran in the New York Herald in the early 1900s.

This original comic drawing in the collection of the National Gallery of Art in Washington DC features a winter edition of “Little Nemo in Slumberland”, where the protagonist heads to the North Pole.  

“That is the great North Pole from which all of the snow and winds are blown. It is one thousand feet high. Um. Yes!” one of the characters in the comic is seen saying.

‘A MERRY CHRISTMAS’ BY HENRI DE TOULOUSE-LAUTREC 

Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, A Merry Christmas, 1896. Color lithograph on cream wove paper. The Art Institute of Chicago, Mr. and Mrs. Carter H. Harrison Collection.

A friend of Vincent Van Gogh, the Post-impressionist French painter Henri De Toulouse-Lautrec (1864-1901) depicted scenes of Parisian nightlife with a particular fondness for the Montmartre neighbourhood, and his splattering ink technique – which he called crachis – innovated his lithography works.  

His most famous work Moulin Rouge, La Goulue (1891) was printed in 3,000 copies and helped his printmaking career take off.

This 1896 lithograph, A Merry Christmas, is a highly-rare print with only five impressions and was used by the Irish singer May Belfort (who the artist frequently depicted in his work) as her holiday greeting card.

‘FIRST SNOW AND THE LITTLE HOUSE’ BY ALFRED STIEGLITZ

Alfred Stieglitz, First Snow and the Little House, 1923. Gelatin silver print.  The Art Institute of Chicago, Alfred Stieglitz Collection.

The American photographer Alfred Stieglitz (1864-1946) fervently believed in the power of the camera. In 1902, he founded and led Photo-Secession, a group that promoted photography as an artistic medium and a fine art.

One of the many works that make up the Alfred Stieglitz collection at the Art Institute Chicago, First Snow And The Little House features a calming – yet eerily lonely – winter town scene.

‘SKATING IN CENTRAL PARK’ BY AGNES TAIT

Agnes Tait, Skating in Central Park, 1934. Oil on canvas. Smithsonian American Art Museum. Transfer from the U.S. Department of Labor.

Supported by the Department of the Treasury’s Public Works of Art Project, the American painter Agnes Tait (1894-1981) set out to capture the festive spirit of New York City’s Central Park in winter.

Her 1934 oil on canvas work Skating In Central Park, part of the Smithsonian American Art Museum in Washington DC, is her most famous work and features figures gliding around under the distinct Manhattan skyline.

‘ICE SKATERS’ BY WALTHER KLEMM

Walther Klemm, Ice Skaters, 1909. Color woodcut. Gift to the National Gallery of Art, Rosenwald Collection.

Here is yet another ice skating scene, this time by the German painter and illustrator Walther Klemm (1883-1957).  

The artist studied under the celebrated Swiss painters Ferdinand Hodler and Cuno Amiet and is especially known for his black and white woodcuts. His 1909 woodcut Ice Skaters features enthusiastic silhouettes circling around a frozen lake framed by the sheer whiteness of the surrounding snow.

‘SNOW SHOVELLERS, NEW YORK’ BY CLARE LEIGHTON

Clare Leighton, Snow Shovellers, New York, 1929. Wood engraving on wove paper. Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase through the Lichtenberg Family Foundation.

Known for portraying rural life, the London-born author and book illustrator Clare Leighton (1898-1989) mastered wood engraving, and her contributions to printmaking are immense.

Her rural English scenes quickly turned to American ones when she moved to the US at the onset of World War II. The artist frequently features imagery of hard-working labourers, and this New York City scene features an inescapable winter chore.

Continue exploring:

• Investigating the Curious Sound Properties of Snow
• "Between The Beatles and Hymns": Kathryn Williams on What Makes A Christmas Song
• Intimate, Tender, Violent: The Larger than Life Paintings of Marlene Dumas
• New Christmas Songs You May Not Have Known
• Alternative Christmas Songs To Play This Festive Season
• How Georgia O’Keeffe Pioneered Modernism
• Scary Christmas Movies to Watch For a Change

Cover Credit: Alfred Stieglitz, First Snow and the Little House, 1923. Gelatin silver print.  The Art Institute of Chicago, Alfred Stieglitz Collection.

Writer | Bana Bissat

Bana Bissat is a Milan-based writer who reports on sound art for Sound of Life. She has written for Flash Art, Lampoon, and Cultured. @banabissat

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