Winter Wonderlands

Winter Wonderlands Welcome to my annual free access Christmas lecture. Over the last few years, I have offered a Christmas lecture on an appropriate theme. I have looked at well-established Christmas traditions, dating back to medieval times, the origins of Santa Claus, thanks to the cartoons of Thomas Nast and even speculated on the presents that we might like to find under the Christmas Tree. This year I look at painters and the various ways in which they have produced snow scenes as the main topic of my ‘Winter Wonderlands’ lecture. I have always harboured a love of snowy scenes. Claude Monet was perhaps attracted to the refractive qualities of snow, attempting to capture the unique light in his canvases. Laurits Andersen Ring captures the isolation of living in a remote Danish village, Baldersbrønde, where he chose to live for over ten years, from 1901-13. Naturalists vied with Symbolists who sought to capture the spirit of a place rather than simply produce an accurate rendering. Working at the turn of the 20th century, Finnish artist Axel Gallen-Kallela imbues his landscapes with nationalist sentiment. At the time Finland was a Russian duchy. Building a studio in the wilderness, near Lake Ruovesi, Gallen-Kallela was able to portray the weight of snow on the bows of trees in an incredibly authentic way. In Swedish painter Gustaf Fjaestad’s imagery the world is literally frozen. Norwegian artist, Harald Solberg was also inspired by the snowy wastes and eerie silence of the far north. His evocative image Winter Night in Rodanthe has been voted the country’s favourite image on numerous occasions. He reworked this potent image on numerous occasions, creating a series of paintings between 1901-1914. Winter Night in Rodanthe has a mystic quality, not disturbed by any human presence. We might all need a hot chocolate after this lecture! I hope you enjoy this illustrated talk.