"the whole story doesn’t show"

December 21, 2022 6:42 AM

Happy winter solstice, everyone! Here's a nice selection of moody winter / solstice images assembled by Irene Gallo, from Tor, 2011. "So, on this Solstice Day, with so few hours of sunshine to warm us, I asked a number of artists to send me some of their favorite winter paintings. I asked nearly 20 people, expecting about half to respond. In fact, everyone responded, often multiple times. Clearly, I am not the only one that finds both comfort and mystery in these images."
posted by taz (14 comments total)

What a treasure trove. I really appreciate tor.com's willingness to just... post cool stuff because it's cool. (And Irene, who ran tor.com for years before her promotion to her current position, is, I suspect, a big part of that.) Everything from gorgeous landscapes to animals to some classic pantsless Frazetta. Thank you, taz, I would have missed this.
posted by restless_nomad at 7:28 AM on December 21, 2022 [5 favorites]

This is a really, really great find. Perfect for a bleak rainy day! (Michael Whelan and Edvard Munch on the same page!)
posted by mittens at 7:50 AM on December 21, 2022 [2 favorites]

Nice.

I would add Caillebotte's Rooftops in the Snow, and the mentioned, but not shown, Bruegel's Hunters in the Snow.

Oh, and Avercamp's Winter Landscape with Ice Skaters.

I would love to see other people's favorites!
posted by praemunire at 8:08 AM on December 21, 2022 [1 favorite]

Just lovely! That snow owl is a perfect dream.
posted by mochapickle at 8:31 AM on December 21, 2022

Wonderful! So glad to see Bauer's Yule Goat in there. Looking at these images is a great way to spend the solstice.
I'll throw in two more: 1820 January calendar image of skaters, Uemura's Large Snowflakes on umbrellas,
posted by Lookinguppy at 8:48 AM on December 21, 2022 [2 favorites]

Thinking about it some more, Ezra Jack Keats's The Snowy Day is in the article, but this is my favorite image from it.
posted by praemunire at 8:54 AM on December 21, 2022 [2 favorites]

Lovely images!
posted by Oyéah at 9:36 AM on December 21, 2022

Surprised not to see this monet included.
Maybe it’s overplayed. Oh well. Still my favourite.
posted by TangoCharlie at 10:18 AM on December 21, 2022 [2 favorites]

the arc of Milankovitch cycles is long, but it bends toward winter :P
posted by kliuless at 11:06 AM on December 21, 2022 [1 favorite]

There is a woodblock artist from far-north Minnesota named Betsy Bowen. She has published a book of numbers and another of ABC's: in "Gathering: A Northwoods Counting Book" and "Antler, Bear, Canoe: A Northwoods Alphabet Year," the pictures reflect scenes for each month. The cover of "ABC" is one of my favorite pictures that she's done, with a silent cabin half-buried in snow but a twist of woodsmoke rising from its chimney, as the snowshoes and canoe sit outside.

(Also, she created this, which I love: "Bears on Holiday" -- but it's hardly moody!)
posted by wenestvedt at 11:38 AM on December 21, 2022 [1 favorite]

Summer Solstice, actually.
posted by signal at 2:07 PM on December 21, 2022 [1 favorite]

There are so many fabulous works here and for reasons I cannot explain over half of them are daggers of longing in my heart.
posted by allium cepa at 1:12 AM on December 22, 2022 [3 favorites]

So beautiful - reminds me I need to get out to my local art museums more often.
posted by Jess the Mess at 2:25 PM on December 22, 2022

Some nice images in there. Like this one.

OTOH, I am from the southern hemisphere, tropical monsoon division. So I have no idea what it is all about.

Try growing up with fake Xmas snow sprayed on the windows, and Bing Crosby singing 'White Christmas', in the middle of a blazing equatorial summer. The kind of weather where the ice-cream is already going soft in the 30 seconds it takes to get from the freezer to the table.
posted by Pouteria at 7:00 PM on December 24, 2022