Ask a child to draw snow and they'll leave the paper white. Ask an Impressionist painter, and they'll reach for blue, violet, pink and gold.
In the 1860s and 1870s, painters like Claude Monet, Camille Pissarro and Alfred Sisley went outside in the cold to paint winter landscapes directly from nature. What they discovered surprised their audiences: snow is almost never simply white. It reflects the sky, the sun, the shadows of trees and buildings. In the shade, it turns blue or violet. In the evening sun, it glows pink and gold.
Snow scenes worth looking at
- Claude Monet, The Magpie (1868–69, Musée d'Orsay, Paris). A field of snow in Normandy, a wooden gate, a single black bird. Look at the shadows on the snow: soft blues and lilacs. - Alfred Sisley, Snow at Louveciennes (1878, Musée d'Orsay). A quiet village lane, a figure with an umbrella, everything hushed and pale. - Camille Pissarro, Hoarfrost (1873, Musée d'Orsay). Not snow but frost, covering a ploughed field at dawn, painted in delicate pinks, creams and blues. - Gustave Caillebotte, Rooftops in the Snow (1878, Musée d'Orsay). Paris seen from a window: grey roofs, chimneys, white snow under a heavy sky.
Why it matters
These paintings teach a lesson that goes beyond snow: we often see what we expect to see, not what's actually there. The Impressionists trained themselves to look again, and found color where others saw only white.
Look at snow like a painter
Next time it snows, or frost covers the ground:
1. Look at a patch of snow in the sun, then in the shade. Compare the colors. 2. Notice the shadows. Are they grey, blue, violet? 3. Watch the snow at sunset. See how the color changes minute by minute. 4. Squint. Colors become simpler and easier to see. 5. Take a photo, then compare it with what your eyes see. Cameras often flatten the colors your eyes catch.
Winter, beautifully
The Digital subscription brings seasonal art, places, books and music into your month, with at least one video each month, photo stories and the digital edition of "(meditating) On Art". A way of seeing winter in color.
Remember to take as much time as you need, and meet me at the next one.
Love, Evi