- Cityscape, Alice Neel (1934)
New York, December 1934, snow-cloaked, smoky, grey-brown. From the window of a hotel on 42nd St, fleeing from a partner who had just destroyed most of her work in a fit of jealousy, Neel’s landscape is quiet, sombre and distant. Its tall buildings wobble, her human figures are mere black strokes. It is this painting that “marked a new beginning for Neel”.
- Decoration, Mainie Jellett (1923)
A pioneering modernist Irish artist, Jellett fused images of religious devotion with a strikingly vivid geometric style. Hidden within the abstract cubist shapes, a Madonna and Child becomes visible. A mustard-yellow polygon crowns the Madonna, hinting of a divine halo — an apt stop-off on a Christmas tour.
- Scene on the Ice, Hendrick Avercamp (circa 1620)
In Kampen, a trading and fishing town in the Netherlands, ice skaters dance and play across the frozen river. Avercamp dots this long, almost stretched-out panoramic scene with colloquial details — a hole in the ice for fishing, couples holding hands, a sled holding a mother and child pushed by a straining dad. There’s a certain peace in this chaos of the everyday.
- Game-piece: the Garden of a Chateau, Jan Weenix (1690s)
This one is a bit more squeamish. It’s a Christmas spread of sorts, with a hare dangling from its leg off a tulip-adorned bush. A chicken and pigeon linger in the background. Shimmering grapes and glistening peaches lie in a woven basket on the painting’s edge. It’s not only a depiction of Christmas feasts of the past, but a memento mori too, a reminder of nature’s transience.
- The Snow Queen, Harry Clarke (1889-1931)
Clarke is Ireland’s most accomplished and unique stained-glass artist and book illustrator. In this intricately inked piece, the Snow Queen’s radiant beauty is on full show, dressed in a verdant cloak, emanating a “chilling cold”. Her delicate ruby-adorned staff and crown seem to glow. A child looks on, entranced at this looming figure standing tall and slim against the pale, blue-white sky.
