Sensational Seasons
“Spring passes and one remembers one’s innocence. Summer passes and one remembers one’s exuberance. Autumn passes and one remembers one’s reverence. Winter passes and one remembers one’s perseverance.” - Yoko Ono
In the Northern and Southern Hemispheres, seasons are categorized as four divisions of the year, marked by changes in temperature, vegetation, light, and weather patterns. Seasons are not only associated with changing patterns in nature, but they are also tied to activities and behaviors within a given place or culture. The artworks in this section demonstrate how artists create illusions of seasonal variation, which allows us to connect with emotions, events, and nostalgia that we associate with specific times of the year. We invite you to smell the flowers, jump in the leaves, and shovel the snow as you explore this seasonal timelapse.
Lodovico Tommassi, Italian 1866-1941, Winter Landscape Woman in Cabbage Field, 1912, Oil on canvas, 25.5 x 32 inches, The Madden Collection at the University of Denver 2016.1.76.
Tommasi portrays the transition between winter and spring when the air is chilly and the ground is soggy. The presence of cabbage, a cold weather spring crop, indicates the time of year as well as the appearance of both a bare tree and a tree that is about to bloom on the far left.
George William Sotter, American, (1879-1953), Evening, 1928, Oil on canvas, 33.25x37.25, The Madden Collection at the University of Denver, 2016.1.68
A cold winter evening would be a familiar sight to Sotter, who grew up in Pittsburgh Pennsylvania. Here, Sotter depicts a house surrounded by bare trees. His choice of cool blue and grey colors evokes the sense of the bone chilling midwestern air in the middle of winter.
Raymond Knaub, American, born 1940, Summer Waterhole, Sandhills Nebraska, 2009, Oil on canvas , 35.5x39.5, The Madden Collection at the University of Denver, 2016.1.92
Tranquil rural scenes and colorful depictions of sunsets like this work captures the simplicity of nature. To Knaub, the light has a magical effect on the landscape and can influence personal memories and emotions. Warm colors of pink, yellows, and oranges in a sunset like that can relay a sense of peace and calm.
Thomas L. Lewis, American, (1907-1978), October Splendor, Date Not Known, Oil on masonite, 26.25x 22.25 University of Denver Art Collections, Gift of Helen Driscoll, 2012.010.08
John Fabian Carlson, Swedish, (1874-1945), Silent Valleys, 1920, Oil on canvas, 34.75x39.75, The Madden Collection at the University of Denver, 2016.1.7
Charles Chayk Coleman, American, (1840-1928) , Cesina Landscape: Study for Twilight and Poppies, 1898, Oil on panel, 24.75x33.5, The Madden Collection at the University of Denver, 2016.1.14
Hugh Bolton Jones, American, (1848-1947), At The River, 1885, Oil on canvas, 30x39.75, The Madden Collection at the University of Denver, 2016.1.41.
Jasper Cropsey, American, (1823-1900), Hackensack Meadows, 1890, Oil on canvas, 19x25.5, The Madden Collection at the University of Denver, 2016.1.16
