Spring Days from Long Ago and Far Away

Since last month, I’ve been binging art with Spring landscapes now that the weather is changing.

As I flipped through webpages, there were a few paintings I ran across that felt as though they belonged to a set. They seemed linked together, even though they were completely unconnected works — from completely different parts of the world!

They just had the same feeling.

If you’ve read much from me so far, you know that I love Spring. Maybe not as much as early Summer, when everything is in full, flourishing bloom, but I love Spring’s hopefulness and soft colors — the breezes growing warmer — animals waking up and coming home.

Still, sometimes, especially right when the seasons are changing, Spring can make me feel really wistful. Maybe even a little sad.

I’ve never understood why, but it’s almost like a mirror of that nostalgic, pensive feeling that one generally associates with Autumn.

The feeling comes and goes pretty quick, because there’s too much to look at and admire in the unfurling world outside, but these paintings remind me of it: dreamy, hazy, wistful, long-lost Spring.

This painting is called “Spring in Marin County”, which is a county in Northern California across the strait from San Francisco.

It was painted by William Keith, a Scottish-American painter known for his California landscapes. He is associated with Tonalism, a painting style that began in the 1880s where artists would paint landscapes tinged all over with mist-like hues, usually in neutral or dark colors.

I especially love the way the light hits the distant hills in this one.

This painting is called the “The Swing” and it is by Australian artist Albert Henry Fullwood.

Fullwood was part of the Heidelberg School of artists, an art movement in Australia in the late 19th century that is now also described as Australian impressionism.

The picture quality of this painting is a bit lacking, but I love the relaxing, playful scene and the swing-laden tree that’s just beginning to cover itself with leaves.

This painting called “Orchard in Spring” is by the Swedish landscape artist Alfred Wahlberg, and it was likely painted somewhere in Sweden or France.

Wahlberg originally studied music before becoming a painter, which may explain the soft, lyrical romanticism of his pieces.

This one is my favorite. The soft, dreamy colors have all the nostalgia of bygone springtimes wrapped up in them. I can almost feel the breeze when I look at it.

Looking at these, my amateur inner art critic/hype girl can’t explain quite why these three paintings from three different corners of the world all seemed to be saying the same thing.

If I had to make a guess, though, it seems likely that it has something to do with the muted color palettes, and perhaps even the fuzzy camera quality in some of the reproductions, enhancing the hazy feeling.

For those who like a good song recommendation, here’s a track that (for me) really encompasses the feeling of these paintings: “Eleven Weeks” by American dream pop band Vansire. I love listening to it when I’m really tired and in a dreamy, wistful state of mind.

This was originally published on Medium; the post date has been altered to reflect the original date of publication.