Love of Winter

A crowd gathers on a frozen pond in this cheerful winter painting by American artist George Bellows, finished in 1914. Skaters bundled in coats and hats glide, stumble, and huddle together across the ice, while snowy hills stretch out behind them under a moody sky. A woman in a bright yellow suit leads a small child in red toward the action, and their warm colors jump out against all the cool blues and whites. Bellows made this after a warm spell finally gave way to snow, and his happiness about the season's return shows in every quick, energetic stroke.

Bellows belonged to the Ashcan School, a group of American painters who preferred showing real life over neat, staged scenes. Though he often turned his brush toward busy city streets, here he captures a carefree afternoon outdoors with that same loose and speedy touch. The skaters far in the distance are little more than smudges of paint, yet somehow they still feel alive and full of movement. Nothing about the subject is grand, but it carries a genuine sense of joy, a nod to the simple fun a cold day can bring.