Love of Winter
“There has been none of my favorite snow," George Bellows wrote to a friend in January 1914. "I must always paint the snow at least once a year.” Soon after, a blizzard hit New York City, inspiring this painting. The bright colors and broad brushstrokes convey the pleasure and movement of the skaters and onlookers who are out enjoying a New York City winter.
Colors in this work
Details
- Artist
- George Wesley Bellows
- Date
- 1914
- Medium
- Oil on canvas
- Dimensions
- 81.6 × 101.6 cm (32 1/2 × 40 1/2 in.)
- Origin
- New York
- Department
- Arts of the Americas
- Holding institution
- Art Institute of Chicago
- Palette
-
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- Image provider
- art-institute-chicago
- License
- CC0-1.0
- Credit
- Friends of American Art Collection
Art Genome Taxonomy
12 tags
Subject Matter
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Landscapes Both · 99%
The image shows a broad snowy outdoor setting with wooded hills and distant terrain; the museum lists landscapes among the subjects.
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Leisure Both · 99%
Skaters and spectators visibly gather for winter recreation, and the museum describes people enjoying public parks and leisure activities.
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The Seasons Both · 99%
Snow, winter clothing, and an icy outdoor setting are clearly visible; the catalog identifies weather/seasons and winter as subjects.
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Childhood Both · 92%
Several small figures appear among the adults, including children in the foreground and middle ground; children are also listed in the catalog subjects.
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Scenes of Everyday Life Both · 92%
The painting presents an ordinary public recreational gathering rather than a posed historical or ceremonial event, consistent with the catalog’s account of public park life.
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Movement Both · 98%
Leaning, gliding, crouching, and turning figures animate the skating area, while the museum specifically notes movement, wind, and speed.
Styles and Movements
-
Impressionism Both · 96%
The museum identifies Impressionism as a style, and the image shows broken, energetic brushwork and vivid color handling in an outdoor scene.
Visual Qualities
-
Bright and Vivid Colors Both · 98%
Vivid red, yellow, green, and white clothing and accents stand out against cool blue-green snow, trees, and sky; the museum also describes Bellows’s use of bright colors.
Medium and Techniques
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Oil Painting Metadata · 99%
The museum documents the medium as oil on canvas.
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Painting Both · 99%
The object is cataloged as a painting and is visibly a painted, horizontally oriented canvas work.
Time Periods
-
1900 - 1917 Art Metadata · 99%
The work is dated 1914 in the museum record, placing it within the 1900–1917 period.
Geographic Regions
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American Art Metadata · 99%
The artist is identified as American and the place of origin is given as New York in the museum metadata.
Source & rights
George Wesley Bellows. Love of Winter. The Art Institute of Chicago.
High-resolution sources
- IIIF image service ↗ 1,686 × 1,338 · Art Institute Chicago · Availability not yet probed