The art of the winter countryside

Stanley Royle (1888-1961)

Dappled Sunlight on Snow, 1924

Oil on canvas

Stanley Royle enjoyed painting the visual effects created by sunlight on snow. The bright colours and blue shadows of this picture were influenced by his appreciation of Impressionist painting. The picture probably shows the landscape around Sheffield where Royle was living at this time. Royle exhibited some of his paintings at Artists of the Northern Counties exhibitions at the Laing Art Gallery.   

Purchased, 1925

John Augustus Atkinson (1775-1833)

Skating, 1810
Watercolour on paper

Skates for hire are laid out on a bench on the far right in this view. A boy has a broom to brush the ice to keep it smooth. In the background, a rough game of hockey is going on. The carriages with coachmen that are waiting on the hill indicate that many of the skating couples are fairly wealthy.

The artist has used small areas of red colour to draw the viewer's attention to different parts of the scene. John Augustus Atkinson specialised in figure subjects, using watercolour washes with pen outlines. He spent much of his career in London.

Purchased, 1940

Dorothy Carr (1902-1986)

River Banks in Winter, Warkworth, 1955
Charcoal and watercolour on paper
 

This picture records the January snow of 1955 on the river Coquet at Warkworth, Northumberland. The spot was near the artist's home. Blue-grey ice lies across the surface of the river, broken by a jagged streak of dark water on the right. The black shapes of branches, together with the gate and barbed-wire fence, form stark patterns against the white of the snow. The artist has used pastel to emphasise the forms, and to bring out the texture on the tree trunk at the front of the picture.

Purchased, 1958

S. Tolidze (Russian, working late 19th century)

Icebreaker Ermack, 1899
Oil on canvas

The icebreaker ship Ermack was built in 1899 for the Russian government at the shipyard of Armstrong, Whitworth & Co., at Low Walker, on the Tyne. It is pictured during its Arctic voyage of 1899. The ship had a solid steel section at the front of the bow, and could break through ice two metres thick. It was designed to push up onto the ice, crushing it to break a passage. The pressure has caused the ice to crack at the sides of the ship, as we can see in the picture.

Although the crew of the ‘Ermack’ may have seen polar bears, the penguins (on the left) are a mistake, as they live in the Antarctic, on the other side of the world.

Given by the Walker Mechanics Institute, Newcastle upon Tyne, 1942

Unknown British artist (late 18th century)

The Tyne Bridge - The Great Frost, 1784
Watercolour on paper

In 1784, the winter was so severe that the River Tyne at Newcastle and Gateshead froze three times. The river flowed more slowly than now because of the many arches of the old bridge. The river was also less deep as it was not dredged so well. As a result, the water froze more easily (though the winters were also colder at this time). However, walking or skating on river ice is very dangerous as it can suddenly break.

The picture shows the Tyne Bridge built in 1775 to 1781 after the destruction of the old bridge in 1771 by floods. The artist has used opaque watercolour to create solid colours.

Bequeathed by Mrs R Spence, 1919

Read more about this picture in our museums blog, 'The Great Frost of 1784, Newcastle upon Tyne'

Leonard Charles Evetts (1909-1997)

Snow in Northumberland, 1947
Watercolour on paper
 

Leonard Evetts painted in watercolour at great speed in front of his subject to capture the light and atmosphere created by the weather. In this picture, he used streaks of white, blue and lilac in thick paint to reproduce the density of the snow. Black trunks of trees create a strong pattern, with thinned blurs of grey suggesting the bushier ends of the branches.

Evetts was was Head of Design for 37 years at Kings College, Newcastle. In addition to watercolour paintings, he also produced many stained-glass panels for churches.

Purchased 1949

George Graham (1881-1949)

Winter in Wensleydale, 1943
Pencil and watercolour on paper
 

George Graham lived in Wensleydale in Yorkshire for many years. This watercolour records the conditions on the hillsides on January 8th 1943, as the artist noted on the picture. He probably made sketches on the spot, and then completed his detailed picture in his studio.

He has focused on a harmonious colour composition of blue, white and grey, with the shadows on the snow reflecting the blue of the sky. In order to create the twiggy ends of the tree branches, the artist used a brush loaded with very dry paint, so that only part of the brush left a mark on the paper.

Purchased with grant aid from William Glover Fund, 1944

John Falconar Slater (1857-1937)

Winter Scene, about 1890-1920

Oil on card

The cool, bluish light cast by the moon in this snowy scene is contrasted with the firelight seen through the cottage window. JF Slater was a North-East artist, and this scene probably shows a view in the Tyneside countryside.

A snow-covered hayrick stands in the farmyard. The hay (dried grass) was used for winter animal feed.

Given by Mrs Robson, 1956

Rowland Henry Hill (1873-1952)

Ellerby – Winter, 1935
Watercolour on paper
 

Rowland Hill lived in Ellerby, in Yorkshire, for around 50 years before his death. He painted many pictures of a horse and cart on the steep road through the village at various times of year.

He may have been able to paint this scene from indoors, through a window, so he could take his time capturing the colours of the snowy scene. The bold green brushmarks on the snow, together with the tinge of yellow in the sky, reveal the unusual colours produced by snow.

Given by Henry Chapman, 1936

Utagawa Hiroshige (1797-1858)

Lingering Snow on Mount Hira

Woodblock print on paper

The poem at the top of the print reads 'He who would see the beauty of the evening on the peaks of Hira must behold it after the snows have fallen, and before the flowers are over’. Pictures of this kind were known as ukiyo-e (pictures of the floating world), and they drew on associations with literature, legend and history.

This is the first image in a group of eight colour woodblock scenes of Lake Biwa that Hiroshige produced. He is known as the finest Japanese artist depicting the quiet beauty of nature in the first half of the 19th century. Hiroshige lived his entire life in Edo (present-day Tokyo).

Given by AH Higginbottom, 1919

• Until Sunday 19 March, Laing Art Gallery, New Bridge Street, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 8AG.
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