See How Spring Has Inspired Artists Across Time
From vibrant fashions to lush landscapes, enjoy the beauty and renewal of spring captured through art.
Flower Garden, Kneeling Woman with Hat (1908) by Emil Nolde National Gallery of Art, Washington DC
Celebrate the season with artworks of flourishing flowers, green gardens, lush landscapes, and beautiful bonnets.
Basket of Flowers (c. 1622) by Balthasar van der Ast National Gallery of Art, Washington DC
Art in bloom
Flowers like lilies and tulips have served as the subject of works by countless artists, from 17th-century Dutch still life painter Balthasar van der Ast
to the American abstract artist Alma Thomas
.
Van der Ast’s still life of flowers arranged in a wicker basket is one of many imagined bouquets popular among the artists of his time. They created impossible works: the flowers depicted together bloomed in different seasons.
Alma Thomas' Pansies in Washington and Lou Stovall's Breathing Hope are two very different depictions of springtime flowers, but each conveys their beauty.
Parmelee Estate in Bloom (c. 1920) by Dora Louise Murdoch National Gallery of Art, Washington DC
Spring landscapes
The breathtaking beauty of a landscape in spring is great for artistic experimentation.
Dora Louise Murdoch's watercolor
of a Washington, DC estate's garden in bloom captures the vibrant natural palette with its range of greens, pinks, blues, and purples.
Marsh Farm in Early Spring (1890-1891, printed 1893) by Peter Henry Emerson National Gallery of Art, Washington DC
Peter Henry Emerson's photogravure captures a farmer leading a pair of horses over a field. Are they tilling the soil to prepare for planting?
A landscape can be abstract, realistic, or something in between—here, Vincent van Gogh painted a field and sky swirling with life and movement. Van Gogh and Monet created paintings that convey the feeling of looking at a landscape rather than replicating precisely what they saw.
Hat (1935/1942) by Florence Earl National Gallery of Art, Washington DC
Spring fashion
Colorful fashions are always popular in the warmer months, and nothing says spring like a fancy hat. According to the subjects of these works, ideally it should be broad, decorated with a ribbon and some flowers. And probably accompanied by a fancy coat, frilly dress, or spiffy suit.
Florence Earl’s
detailed watercolor drawing of a purple bonnet is one of many hats recorded for the Index of American Design
. This collection of over 18,000 watercolor paintings documents works of folk, decorative, and industrial art created throughout the United States.
A Garden Allegory: The Dew and Zephyr Cultivating Flowers (1683/1732) by Benoît Massou, Anselme Flamen, and Nicolas Rebillé National Gallery of Art, Washington DC
Interpretations of spring
In allegories, the subject of a work symbolizes something broader—in these works, a season. The French marble sculpture A Garden Allegory
shows a woman with an angelic little cupid.
She represents Herse, the Goddess of dew, and the cupid stands in for another mythological figure: Zephyr or Zephyrus, the God of spring.
The Japanese Footbridge (1899) by Claude Monet National Gallery of Art, Washington DC
Through the centuries, artists have captured the vibrant exuberance of spring through sculpture, photographic portraits, and even abstract paintings. Visit the National Gallery to see even more beautiful works dedicated to this lovely time of year!
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