Pierre PUVIS de CHAVANNES
French 1824-1898
Winter
1896
oil on canvas
96.2 x 147.2 cm
Felton Bequest 1910
487-2

Winter, commissioned by a private patron, is a smaller version of a composition that Puvis de Chavannes had originally painted for the entrance foyer of the newly restored Hotel de Ville (City Hall) in Paris. There is no story to be told, Puvis de Chavannes described his compositions as 'poems' and symphonies. The painting seeks, through its icy colours, to epitomise winter cold and to stress the hardships it brings. Like the larger scale work, the paint imitates the dry chalky effect of a fresco.