While it sometimes can be difficult to appreciate a snowy landscape this time of year, deep into a Michigan winter, many artists have found a special way to transform the grey winter light into a winter wonderland.

 Historically, winter landscapes were not prevalent among early 16th-century European artists. At the time, most art was religious in theme. There were a few church murals and illuminated manuscripts where snowy landscape imagery helped record agricultural tasks and winter weather. Pieter Bruegel the Elder’s The Hunters in the Snow is often regarded as the first true winter landscape to be painted. The painting depicts a snowy Flemish village scene full of hunters and their dogs, as well as villagers around a fire and skating on a frozen pond.

As landscape painting became impressionistic, and painting outdoors, or en plein-air, became popular, snowy landscapes became more common. Even well-known painters like Claude Monet, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, and Paul Gauguin began adding winter scenes to their portfolios. Perhaps it was the Impressionists’ ability to capture natural outdoor light and their careful observation of the various colors seen within natural light that they captured in their paintings, that helped make winter landscapes a more popular subject.

While the GVSU Art Museum collection is full of sunny and bright scenes of Michigan beaches, dunes, and cities, we also have quite a few artists who have captured the blues and greys of a Michigan winter landscape through a variety of different media. While not everyone may appreciate the dull skies of January in Michigan, we certainly can appreciate artists capturing the beauty of a Michigan winter (even if only viewed from inside a warm gallery or museum!).

Explore more winter scenes in the GVSU Art Museum Collection