Do you love winter paintings just as much as I do?
Then, this post will be a treat. Here, I cover 30 famous Winter Paintings from artists from the Dutch Golden Age to more recent masters. I hope you’ll enjoy looking at them as much as I did creating this post for you.
Winters in the Netherlands aren’t what they used to be; we hardly see a blanket of snow these days (it does happen, thankfully). And waterways regularly froze before (read almost always during winter), but not anymore. Of course all due to rising average global temperatures.
But there was a time when things were different, and that’s been captured beautifully by some famous painters. Some are even funny. And in today’s post I thought it would be fun exploring them.
If they’re on display in a Museum, I have added that information to every post so that you can see this painting for real.
PS: Visiting the Netherlands in Winter is a great idea if you enjoy museums. Yes, days are short. It’s colder and can be gloomy, but as you can see in these paintings, sunny days are magical, and tourists will be gone. Museums are quieter and more space for you to enjoy it all.
Enjoy these beautiful paintings of winter:
Table of Contents
1. “Winter Landscape with Skaters” by Hendrick Avercamp 1585-1634
This is my favorite winter artwork, made in 1608, more than 400 years ago! And you can still see it for yourself at the Rijksmuseum.
You see a lot in this painting. The setting: a Dutch winter landscape with ice skaters on a frozen river. This is typical for winters in the 17th century, but the focus is not on nature in this painting. It’s the people. You almost hear the buzz and chatter of the people ice skating.
This is not a painting to glance over and move on to the next. Take an information card provided by the museum and take a moment. People have fallen through the ice, and two love birds are thought to have found a secret hideout (left corner) to make out but were caught by the painter.
Somebody takes a s*** in the open, exposing their bottoms (also on the left-hand side). A dog is eating parts of a dead carcass in the lower left foreground, and you see an ingenious bird trap set up.
Those are just a few of the things you’ll find.
PS: did you know Averkamp had a nickname: “De Stomme van Kampen”? He was deaf and lived in Kampen, although he took painting classes in his native Amsterdam.
And that his winter paintings are inspired by the 16th-century Flemish Master Pieter Bruegel the Elder, created about forty years before, around 1565.
On Display: Yes
Museum: Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam
Where to find: Room 2.6
2. “Ice Scene” by Hendrick Avercamp
Another winter landscape painting with many figures on the ice. As with many of Avercamp’s paintings, humor can be found here. Can you find that fallen person flashing his or her bottom? It’s one of Avercamp’s signatures. But you can also see hard words like a woman doing her laundry in ice-cold water. The idea alone of putting your hands into that, brrr.. no, thank you.
But isn’t it a fantastic wintry painting to take in? So much is happening on the ice. My favorite is this man on a sled to the right of the painting. He is sitting in it and pushes himself with sticks. Ingenious!
You can see this painting at the Mauritshuis in The Hague (the same museum where you can find the “Girl with the Pearl Earring” by Vermeer).
On Display: Yes
Museum: Mauritshuis, The Hague
Where to find: Room 16
Tickets
3. “Enjoying the Ice near a Town” by Hendrick Avercamp
One more painting by Avercamp. First, they’re amazing, with countless things to find and discover. But also to highlight how he became better as a painter over time. In Avercamp’s earliest works, he captured the scene like nobody else, and his compositions were terrific. But one thing you didn’t see was details in the human figures in his paintings.
How different is that in this painting? Look at the rich details of the people you see in this painting.
Are you wondering why some subjects look like they’re heading to an Italian masked ball? Although it looks like they’re on their way to the theater, it is fashionable attire for the woman to cover their skin around the eyes from the brutal cold and wind.
This painting also shows life a bit more realistically. With stark contrasts between a high society with their masks, horses, and fancy sleds to beggars (front and center), and if you look carefully, you even see a glow in the background.
On Display: Yes
Museum: Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam
Where to find: Room 2.6
4. “The Singel Bridge at the Paleisstraat in Amsterdam” by George Hendrik Breitner
This painting is also on display at the Rijksmuseum. Breitner is a more contemporary painter. This painting was created in 1898. It was a different time. Life quickly modernized. Photos are now a thing.
At the same time, most painters and critics hold onto a romanticized version of the past. Those types of paintings sold best at that time. But this painting is not that.
His frame looks like a photo, something critics of his time did not appreciate, like the canal houses “cut off” from the frame. And there are “unpolished” elements like the muddied snow.
This painting always stops me in the Rijksmuseum. To me, it looks like an idealized winter scene in Amsterdam. So recognizable. Amsterdam still looks like this, right? But then there are these fascinating people looking from another era.
On Display: Online only
5. “Winter in Amsterdam” by George Hendrik Breitner
Another beautiful but very different winter painting by Breitner.
It’s dark and gloomy today, just like most winter days are.
And again, in style, it’s not a perfect painting either. Canal houses are “cut off”. It’s a snapshot, much like how we take photos today.
We’re looking at the corner of the Brouwersgracht and the Korte Prinsengracht, one of the most beautiful parts of Amsterdam.
On Display: Online only
6. “Winter” by Jan van Goyen
Let’s go back in time again. We’re now in 1625. This painting is a little bit “deceiving.” At first, you think, oh, a winter scenery from a long time ago. But some things are a bit strange. There is ice, but no snow, something that rarely happened then. And then that castle, it’s entirely imaginary.
But does it matter? It’s beautiful to look at; again, so much is happening.
It belongs to Van Goyen’s other painting, painted in the same style: summer.
On Display: Yes
Museum: Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam
Where to find: Room 2.6
7. “Winter Landscape near a Town” by Aert van der Neer
The description is not very informative, but the painting oozes the Netherlands in the Golden Age for me. Beautiful custom games are being played on the frozen rivers.
Seeing how much social life occurred on the ice back then is enjoyable. And the horse-drawn large sleds. It’s almost like a canal cruise on frozen water!
On Display: Online only
PS: You can see his painting “River at Moonlight” in room 2.6 at the Rijksmuseum. It’s not a winter painting, but the details of light and shadows are magnificent.
8. “Winter in the Scheveningen Woods” by Anton Mauve
Anton Mauve is a Dutch painter from the 19th century, most famous for his paintings of the heath in the region of Laren, not that far from Amsterdam and the area I am from.
He also painted endearing scenes from Scheveningen Beach and The Hague area, like when a man pushes a sled with firewood across a snowy forest path.
On Display: Online only
9. “Riders in the Snow in the Haagse Bos” by Anton Mauve
You always recognize a painting. There is never more color than needed. There is also always tranquillity.
It’s not any different in this beautiful painting, where three people ride a horse in the Haagse Bos—a forest/park in The Hague.
On Display: Online only
10. “A January Evening in the Woods of The Hague” by Louis Apol
Let’s stay in The Hague for a minute. So far, people have taken center stage in the Dutch winter paintings I selected. Here, it’s nature itself.
I can feel the cold, a crisp winter late afternoon in this painting. The sun is setting down. This was a fantastic winter day. Nothing dark or gloomy.
The bridge is giving away this is not a forest, but a park instead. But that it’s a city park in The Hague is hard to believe. It looks so rural. But it is.
What I love is not just the pretty image but also the level of detail you see. The snow on the twigs, the birds flying, the soft glow of the sun rising. It’s peaceful to me.
On Display: Online only
11. “The Prisoners Gate The Hague” by Johannes Adrianus van der Drift
Okay, one more The Hague image, and then I will move on, promise. But isn’t this one beautiful too?
The Gevangenpoort (Prison gate) has so much history, located right across “Binnenhof” and the seat of the Dutch government. This is a site you can still visit today: it’s a museum about crime and punishment.
In this painting, everything looks peaceful. People are out and about going on with their day. Kids playing with a sleigh, the adults holding a conversation, dogs playing, and a well-to-do parent taking their kid (maybe to shop)?
What makes this painting unique for me, besides how beautiful everything looks, is the contradicting feeling. It feels so calm and peaceful if you zoom into the street. It must have been noisy with barking dogs, the hoofs of horses, and the chatter of all these people.
On Display: Online only
12. “View of the Church of Sloten in the Winter” by Jan Abrahamsz Beerstraten
I promised to move away from The Hague. This winter painting is set in Sloten, in the 1600s, a village outside of Amsterdam.
Today, it is very much a suburb of Amsterdam. And it doesn’t look this romantic anymore. But we see the roads “Sloterweg & Osdorperweg” coming together.
I thought it was super cool when I learned this intersection is still there today, and when you look it up on Google Maps, you see the painting is correct. Like in this painting, the “Sloterkerk” (Sloter church) is behind it.
But here it does—such a typical scene of Winter in the Netherlands. You wouldn’t doubt if it would be anywhere else.
On Display: Online only
13. “Landscape with windmills in the snow” by Jacob Maris
Today, we flock to Kinderdijk, or the Zaanse Schans, to get our windmill pictures taken. And although we’re famous for them, there are fewer windmills in the Netherlands today than in the past.
It makes sense, too, since the introductions of steam and factories, windmills are not that useful anymore. Thankfully, plenty remain, but when Jacob created this painting, there were a dozen more, and they all had a function. Like grinding corn or very often also to pump the land dry.
This painting very much reminds me of Kinderdijk. Do you feel the same?
On Display: Online only
14. “Winter scene with fun on the ice” by Barbara Regina Dietzsch
Barbara Regina Dietzsch was one of the few famous female painters of her time. She was a German painter and most known for her still lifes and botanical paintings. But this painting is different. There are people in it, enjoying a beautiful winter day.
This painting is not set in Holland. There are hills, and hills were nonexistent within the borders of what was then Holland. It must be a German scene.
But Mrs. Dietzsch was extremely popular in the Netherlands, and her works were collected by many here, and that is how the Rijksmuseum got hold of this beautiful painting.
On Display: Online only
15. “A Frozen Canal near the River Maas” by Andreas Schelfhout
Another painting is on display at the Rijksmuseum, and isn’t it pretty?
This tranquil landscape looks typical Dutch. We’re also in a very different region of the Netherlands along the Maas River. (the river Meuse)
This painting was created in the 19th century but might feel much older. And you would be right. Schelhout’s works, which felt like the 17th century, were trendy in his day. They even had a name for themselves, ‘little Schelfhouts.’
On Display: Yes
Museum: Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam
Where to find: Room 1.14
Tickets
16.”Winter Scene on the Ice with Wood Gatherers” by Andreas Schelfhout
Another beautiful painting by Schelhout, this one very different though. There is much more color and depth. The previous painting was almost devoid of color, but that’s not the case here.
The subjects in this painting are the two people in the front of the image gathering wood on the ice. They look a bit older, hard-working…
On Display: Online only
17. “Whetstone Market in Amsterdam” by George Pieter Westenberg
This is a much more industrial setting in this painting—the Whetstone factory and market in Amsterdam.
The colors here are dark for a stark contrast between the buildings, the beautiful white layer on the rooftops, and the roads. It’s unmistakable winter.
On Display: Online only
18. “Snow-Covered Field with a Harrow (after Millet)” by Vincent van Gogh
This painting is currently on view at the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam. It’s not one of his masterpieces. It’s pretty sad.
Vincent was in Saint-Rémy-de-Provence in a mental institution. He was a broken man. Afraid to go outside and even to paint. And although he had already created masterpieces before, he started copying other artists.
Jean-François Millet created this painting, but it’s unmistakable Vincent when you look at it. Today, the colors have changed quite a bit. There used to be much more contrast. But it’s still pretty if you ask me.
On Display: Yes
Museum: Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam
Tickets
Credit line photo: Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam (Vincent van Gogh Foundation)
19. “Landscape With Snow” by Vincent van Gogh
Vincent didn’t paint many wintry scenes, but he did paint the one above and this one. And this one is a lot more cheerful. There is color.
Vincent headed south when Paris was gloomy and dark in February 1888. He hoped to find sun when he would get off the train in Arles, in southern France. Not so much. He stepped right into the snow.
Just a few days later, he painted this beautiful painting when the snow started to melt. It’s still wintry, but autumn is coming.
On Display: Yes
Museum: Guggenheim Museum, New York
Tickets
*Credit line photo: Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, Thannhauser Collection, Gift, Hilde Thannhauser, 1984
20. “The Blue Gate in Leiden in the Winter” by Abraham Beerstraten
A city we haven’t covered yet: Leiden. It’s beautiful to visit, by the way. Lots of Dutch history can also be found here. Rembrandt was born here, for example. It’s also famous for its university.
It’s also home to the Boerhaave Museum. This is a fascinating museum about science, medicine, and astrology and has an anatomical theatre too. Many essential discoveries we still use today in our modern world were discovered here.
But that is not the topic of this painting. I get excited talking about Leiden.
This painting is a typical city winterscape from that time, but not less beautiful. Lots of people are playing and having fun. In the background, there is a beautiful blue gate.
You can’t visit that gate today. It’s not there anymore. But city gates that look very similar still exist and take you right back to this time.
On Display: Online only
21. “View of Dordrecht in winter” by Siebe Johannes ten Cate
Another beautiful place to visit in the Netherlands. Dordrecht, just south of Rotterdam. It’s called the Venice of the North, which feels like that from some angles.
Here, you see a painting almost void of color and still gorgeous. It also very much looks like the water is not yet frozen over. The rooftops are covered in snow, but we still see boats sailing.
Did you see the pretty windmill in the background?
On Display: Online only
22. “Winter Landscape” by Jacob Isaacksz van Ruisdael
Ruisdael is a 17th-century famous Dutch painter known for his Dutch landscapes.
When you search for him, you find the windmill by Wijk bij Duurstede. But he is known for his winter landscapes. He painted no less than 25 of them.
He does very well painting skies and making them very dramatic. Well, I think you agree with me that he quite succeeded in that here.
I try to take coverage just by looking at this image. Some awful weather is coming soon, or is it passing? Because sunlight is coming in from the left.
Isn’t that contrast amazing? Quite an artist! This painting is unique in that it is on display in the Gallery of Honour at the Rijksmuseum. Right near the street in Delft by Vermeer, the Nightwatch by Rembrandt, and many other greats.
PS: The windmill painting is also displayed in the same room!
On Display: Yes
Museum: Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam
Where to find: Gallery of Honour
23. “The Feast of St Nicholas” by Jan Steen
A Household by Jan Steen is an expression in the Netherlands. And it doesn’t mean much good. It means your house is a mess, and others can see it.
Why? Because in most Jan Steen paintings, there is chaos in the house. Kids are smoking pipes and drinking wine more than usual, and usually, there is a mess.
And it’s a little bit like that in this painting, too. Toys, shoes, and food are littering the floor.
But that’s not the theme of this painting here: a family is celebrating the feast of St. Nicholas. It is a traditional kid’s feast in the middle of winter that we still celebrate on December 5th.
Details have changed over the centuries, but what has remained is that kids always receive presents and candy…
Well always…
Maybe not always. Do you see that boy crying on the left? He didn’t get anything. Why? He must have displayed bad behavior in the past because you only get presents if you have been good.
And still, to this day, it is like that. Many parents, including my own, have threatened me. Remember, no gifts if you don’t behave. It works. I know.
The girl was luckier. She got a doll. She must have been good. But it’s not as bad for the boy, either. Do you see Grandma winking in the back? She has something for him.
PS: in the front, you see all kinds of traditional Dutch food we eat this time of year. Like “Speculaas,” a wonderful spiced cookie you buy at any Dutch supermarket!
Are you intrigued by this painting? See it yourself in the gallery of honor at the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam.
On Display: Yes
Museum: Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam
Where to find: Gallery of Honour
24. “The adoration of the shepherds” by Jan Steen
Another painting by Jan Steen is just like the Feast of St. Nicolas. But this time, no funny and messy household. It’s strange to think both works are from the same artist.
No, Jan Steen also painted more serious biblical scenes like this one where we see Mary sitting in the foreground, holding baby Jesus in a bed of straw.
Shepherds walk into the stable to pay their respects. We also see a young shepherd busy kindling a fire, an ox and donkey, and an elderly woman handing Joseph a basket filled with eggs. On the right side is a shepherd playing the bagpipes, and do you see that boy holding that enormous rooster?
The painting is quite dark, but baby Jesus is lit out beautifully.
It’s a very Christmassy painting indeed.
On Display: Yes
Museum: Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam
Where to find: Gallery of Honour
25. “General Daendels Taking Leave of Lieutenant-Colonel Krayenhoff” by Adriaan de Lelie
A very different theme in this painting, winter or not, war was always on the horizon at that time. Here it was, the French “invading” the Netherlands at the request of the Dutch patriots.
In this painting, you can see Dutch faces wearing French uniforms (look at their hats).
Here, we observe General Daendels sending his lieutenant Colonel Krayenhoff off to Amsterdam to request a government change to accommodate the upcoming French invasion, which happened the same night.
What I like about this painting is the expression on the faces of the two main characters. They were very kind.
But also the background is beautiful, a kid running, his mother trying to catch him. Beautiful trees covered in snow. It’s a painting you can take a look at for a while.
And you can, because it’s on display at the Rijksmuseum.
On Display: Yes
Museum: Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam
Where to find: Room 1.10
26. “Women’s Skating Competition Leeuwarden” by Nicolaas Baur
It was a cold winter day on the 21st of January in 1809 when 64 unmarried women competed for first prize in Leeuwarden. You can tell by the iconic city tower in the back.
It was Houkje Gerrits Bouman who won.
You might think, wow, what a woman’s liberty for that time. Quite the opposite. Do you see the winning woman on the right?
Their arms are exposed. For more freedom of movement, the woman shed their cloaks. You can even see one coat lying on the ice.
There was an outcry afterward. Indecent. The little-disguising clothing caused a stir, so this was the last women’s race in quite a while.
On Display: Online only
27. “Snow Landscape” by Alexander Joseph Daiwaille
His name doesn’t sound very Dutch, but he was a Dutch painter. Alexander followed in his father’s footsteps. First, he painted mainly portraits, but later in life, he would also paint landscapes, like this beautiful winter setting we see here.
What is most remarkable for me in this painting is the light. The way the sun is outlining the tree and the house, I think it’s just beautiful. It feels so rich.
I want to go “in” and explore everything I can see.
On Display: Online only
28. “Winter Landscape” by Barend Cornelis Koekkoek
One of my favorite winter paintings at the Rijksmuseum. I must include this one by Koekkoek. The light, the colors so vibrant.
The snow on tree branches looks magical, so much as I remember snow on the trees around my house.
I said earlier that a painting must be in Germany because we see hills. If you look carefully here, you see some hills, and this is the Netherlands.
It’s the hilly region of Gelderland, in the east of the country (when Holland was just Holland and not yet the Netherlands, this part was not yet part of the country).
It’s a small region that is hilly but beautiful.
In the painting, it’s another time. The men in the front transport wood and vegetables but take a little break for a chat. There is a traveling convoy approaching in the back of the painting.
On Display: Yes
Museum: Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam
Where to find: Room 1.14
29. “The Raampoortje in Amsterdam” by Wouter Johannes van Troostwijk
Another painting that is quintessentially Dutch and yet deceiving. It’s Dutch. But this painting, too, looks much older than it is. It’s a 19th-century painting.
But it looks like the Golden Age.
Look carefully. It looks like not much is happening, but do you see that man on the left? What is he doing? Exactly, he is relieving himself. It’s a little humor, just like in Avercamp’s painting.
The gate is not there anymore, but the Westerkerk in the far background is.
On Display: Yes
Museum: Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam
Where to find: Room 1.14
30. “The Adoration of the Christ Child” by Cosimo Rosselli
Cosimo Rosselli is Italian, not Dutch, but this nativity scene is on display at the Rijksmuseum and is worth including.
Not in the least, because it’s such an old painting. It was created in the 15th century and is still in excellent condition.
Rosselli was a renowned independent artist. This painting embodies the distinct Florentine design and colors, but it also reflects Rosselli’s response to the influence of recent pieces by Flemish artists at that time, making it a little bit more Dutch.
On Display: Yes
Museum: Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam
Where to find: Room 0.5
Conclusion
The above is just a selection of all the beautiful winterscapes in Dutch museums or by Dutch artists. It was super hard to choose because there are many made.
Do you miss any Dutch winter paintings on this list? If so, let me know in the comments below.
I hope you can discover some of these winter paintings in real life when visiting the Netherlands!
