Fall Colors and Scenes in Modern Art

Autumn Paintings of Pissarro, Klimt, Metcalf, O’Keeffe and Jackson

Sep 27, 2008

The changing colors and many facets of fall have always made it an inspiring season for artists.

While all four seasons are visually inspiring, autumn truly gives painters the chance to show off vivid shades of scarlet, vermillion and crimson, as well as discovering fascinating variations and combinations of yellow, orange, ochre and brown. Many artists have captured nature’s last blaze of leaves and glory -- that short span of time before views turn to bare branches and wintry quiet -- and the following works by Camille Pissarro, Gustav Klimt, Willard Metcalf, Georgia O’Keeffe and A.Y. Jackson are particularly wonderful examples of the beauty of fall.

Turning and Fallen Leaves

French Impressionist and Pointillist painter Camille Pissarro (1830-1903) was clearly fond of autumn and included the season often in his work. He also painted many harvest-themed scenes. Pissarro’s 1890 Hyde Park – London shows the early part of fall, with the green leaves of one bank of trees eventually destined to mirror the golden yellow of those across the park walk. Gustav Klimt (1862-1918), Austrian painter of sinuous Art Nouveau forms and gorgeous dappled landscapes, created such fall images as The Beech Forest and Birch Forest (1903). These works show the end of autumn, with leaves now fallen and dry and thickly covering the earth beneath the stark beauty of exposed bark and branches.

Metcalf’s Golden Carnival

In the United States, New England’s fall is on full display through September and October, drawing countless visitors longing to reconnect with nature and enjoy the intense colors of the area foliage. American Impressionist and Massachusetts native Willard Metcalf (1858-1925) was well-known for his paintings of the region, and his autumn scenes often link him with fellow New Englander and poet Robert Frost. Metcalf’s 1910 The Golden Carnival shows the changing of green summer hills to gold beyond hazy sunlight, while Frost’s short poem Nothing Gold Can Stay reminds us that the splendor of fall soon fades, and that “leaf subsides to leaf…so dawn goes down to day/Nothing gold can stay.”

O’Keeffe’s Chestnut and Jackson’s Red Maple

Before American artist Georgia O’Keeffe (1887-1986) became so closely connected to New Mexico, she spent many autumns at her husband Alfred Stieglitz’s country home in upstate New York. O’Keeffe liked the feeling of change and the dramatic colors that fall brought, and her paintings of scenes such as Autumn Trees – Chestnut Tree (1924) and intense close-ups of leaves reflect her powerfully minimalist style.

Canadian Group of Seven painter Alexander Young – or A.Y. – Jackson (1882-1974) attended the Art Institute of Chicago around the same time as O’Keeffe, and he also used color in a focused, striking manner in his painting The Red Maple. Completed in November of 1914, The Red Maple shows bright leaves at the edge of dark blue rushing waters, and has even been said to symbolize Canada‘s entry into World War I.

So while autumn may mean the beginning of the end of the meteorological calendar and while none of its gold can stay, its unique allure has inspired – and surely will continue to inspire – many stunning works of art.

The copyright of the article Fall Colors and Scenes in Modern Art in Modern Art History is owned by Meg Nola. Permission to republish Fall Colors and Scenes in Modern Art in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.