Seasonal Expressions

Charles Reiffel depicts himself and his wife, Francis, tending to the land on their property in Julian, about an hour northeast of San Diego, California.

The brightly colored green foliage is indicative of new spring growth and the bright blue sky peeks through the lush tree canopy.

William Posey Silva returned to the United States in 1909 after training in Europe and spent the next thirty-five years painting California’s trees, dunes, and the coast.

In this Sacramento park scene, notice the vivid spring flowers dappled around the lake.

This landscape comes from a longstanding tradition in Dutch painting stretching back to the 17th century.

Here, the glow of the summer sun warms the villagers conversing on a log.

The sun also warms the shepherds tending to their flock.

Selden Connor Gile painted outdoors, or "en plein air."

In this painting, cows traverse over the Northern California hills.

The orange and yellow pasture is reminiscent of sun burnt grass glowing with the heat of summer.

Notice Gile’s thick and expressive application of paint.

Amédée Joullin

In the mid-1880s, California’s sand dunes became one of Amédée Joullin’s favorite subjects.

Notice the subtle details of the trees beginning to change from green to brown.

This reddish-brown tree shows its full autumn foliage.

The canals crisscrossing the Netherlands served as icy sled runs in winter time and were more efficient than rutted roads for transport.

Men and horses guide sledges full of goods to market.

Merchants tend an enormous sledge of goods near a couple ice skating up the canal.

Fernand Lungren depicts the eastern side of the Colorado Rockies between Trinidad and Colorado Springs.

Craggy rocks burst through the blanket of snow covering the mountains.

The thick, gray clouds dipping between the peaks present a winter storm forming.