ArtistsNetwork.com 33his life, he still found fascination
in the subject. Artists like Inness knew
that winter had a smaller market than
scenes of other seasons, but they felt
winter’s charm and wanted to respond
in paint. If an artist can present a sen-
sation of warmth and cold within the
same image, he or she is more likely
to make emotionally alluring work and
find an enthusiastic market.
Inness repeatedly succeeded in this
venture. From his New Jersey home,
he welcomed winter and its attendant
atmospheric mystery in Home at
Montclair (opposite). Here, Inness
contrasted a rosy evening sky against
a lavender-blue line of shadows, finally
landing on a pale blanket of snow.
Warm tones are played against cool
ones. The effect of soft warmth sug-
gested by the sky subdues the chill
rising from the snow. The fence, with
its rosier color, undulates diagonally
across the snow-covered field, cutting
warmth into the cold.CLAUDE MONET
Painting winter a continent away,
yet barely a decade earlier, in 1879,
Claude Monet (French; 1840–1926)
placed warm red-brown notes among
lighter blue-violet marks in Entrance
to the Village at Véthueil in Winter
(top). Early impressionists like Monet
were initially called violet-maniacs.LEFT
Entrance to the Village
at Véthueil in Winter
by Claude Monet
1879; oil on canvas, 23⅞ x31⅞
MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS, BOSTON; GIFT OF
JULIA C. PRENDERGAST IN MEMORY OF HER
BROTHER, JAMES MAURICE PRENDERGASTBELOW
North River
by George Bellows
1908; oil on canvas, 32⅞ x43
PENNSYLVANIA ACADEMY OF THE FINE ARTS;
JOSEPH E. TEMPLE FUNDMonet’s snowy serpentine road—
a classic design—proceeds in a slow
meandering perspective toward a town
with a distant hill marked by light tints
of palest yellow and soft blue-violets.
Warm colors modify cooler colors.
Monet relied on soft, simultaneous
contrast effects to evoke a glow that’s
neither chilly nor warm. His recipe
for this radiant glow is an industry
standard: Apply light complementary
colors of equal or approximate value
with dissolved edges.GEORGE BELLOWS
Later, in the early 20th century,
George Bellows (American, 1882–
1925) found warmth in winter in
North River (left). Much like Inness
and Monet, Bellows has us enter the
image from the lower right. The bil-
lowing steam from the riverboat and
the train create pillows of light that
mimic the shape of the piles of snow.
We descend to the river,
following a serpentine trail. After
crossing the river, we rise up the
opposing distant cliffs. Notice how
the snow is piled in cool blue shadows
as well as in bright sunlight. Bellows
was a member of the Ashcan School,
also known as the Black School of
painters because of their renewed use
of black, a pigment that had been
largely banished from the
Impressionists’ palette.David Dunlop is a “modern-day old
master” whose landscapes draw from
both Renaissance techniques and
contemporary science. His paintings
have been shown internationally and
are held in the collections of major
corporations. He’s also the writer and
host of the Emmy award-winning PBS
television series, Landscapes Th rough
Time With David Dunlop. Visit his
website at paintingclass.net.