It is difficult to change the furniture in a room with every season.
However, the light coming through the windows changes. As you walk outside, the colors of the plants and the sky you see also change. What you wear and what you eat shift bit by bit toward the next season.
When you think of it that way, perhaps the art hanging on your walls doesn't have to be the same all year round.
You can swap out a piece when spring arrives, and pick another as summer approaches. It’s not a major renovation, but even just changing a corner of a wall can alter the impression of a room you’ve grown accustomed to.
So, if you were to choose art according to the seasons, how would you go about it?
Motifs that directly evoke a season—like cherry blossoms, the sea, autumn leaves, or snow—are not your only options. If you turn your attention to color, light, plants, animals, or even the texture of the paint, the combinations of seasons and art become much freer.
Spring | Light colors and stirring plants
When you hear "spring art," flowers might be the first thing that comes to mind.
Of course, displaying flowers is a delightful way to enjoy the season. However, when we consider the transition from winter to spring, there are other clues as well.
The way plants sprout and colors gradually return to the landscape. The way days grow longer and we spend more time with the windows open. You might choose a piece based on these seasonal shifts.
As the name suggests, this is a piece for when you want to embrace spring in a straightforward way.
In the room depicted, there is a brightly colored sofa and rug, and beyond that, an open window looking out at the sea.
It is a work that feels as though the new season has arrived in the entire room, rather than just depicting one spring-like object.
"Sprout" refers to a new shoot. This work is themed around a plant that has just germinated.
Spring isn't only symbolized by flowers in full bloom. A tiny sprout peeking out from the soil also marks the beginning of a new season.
The green that retains the translucency unique to watercolor is a perfect match for the season when plants begin to grow.
It can also be nice to be a bit more free and enjoy the forms of the plants themselves.
In 《PLANTS》, Kayo Aoyama chose to draw plants with forms that interested her, while referencing old British botanical illustrations.
Instead of focusing on flower colors, look at the leaves, stems, and the shapes inherent to each plant. This is another way to select a piece for spring.
Summer | The sea, light, and blue
During the hot season, blue paintings naturally catch the eye.
Blue, which evokes the sea and water, is an easy clue to follow when choosing summer art.
However, the impression one gets from a work varies, even with the same shade of blue.
There are paintings that depict the sea itself, abstract works that remind one of water or light, or pieces where you can simply enjoy the color itself.
This is a work by Nanako Okawa featuring a pleasure boat crossing an indigo sea.
With the sea occupying most of the frame and a small boat moving across it, gazing at the water surface stretching into the distance naturally draws your eyes toward the horizon.
It is a piece I’d love to display in summer, not just for the sea motif, but for the expansiveness of the scene.
Though it is also blue, this is an abstract painting.
Deep blue and soft white. The layers have a look that feels like gazing up at the light from within the water.
Even without a concrete depiction of a seascape, it can evoke thoughts of water and light.
If you look beyond the idea of "a sea painting because it’s summer," a piece like this becomes a candidate.
Furthermore, let’s move away from motifs and choose based on "color" itself.
Azure is a deep, vivid blue. It is also a color that reminds one of a clear sky or the vast ocean.
If 《Beginning of the Day》 feels like summer because of the scenery, and 《INNER》 because of the impression of water and light, then 《Azure 1800》 is a piece for choosing a season based on a single color.
Autumn | Deeper colors and textures
As autumn arrives, the intense light of summer softens, and the colors of the town and nature change little by little.
For art, too, scenes of autumn leaves are not the only options for the season.
Deep colors, layers of shades, the thickness of the paint.
Switching from a light, airy piece for summer to a work with a bit more density is also a way to enjoy the season.
A piece by Jin Kitamura, titled simply 《Autumn》.
While it bears the name of the season, it does not depict realistic autumn leaves or an autumn landscape.
It is a somewhat humorous world born from the combination of animals and colors drawn in crayon.
Even when we talk about "autumn art," the expressions are varied.
This is an abstract work by Satomi Tanji, utilizing the spread and bleeding of alcohol ink and the blending of colors.
The color palette centered around brown is striking, as is the depth created by the overlapping of many colors.
It is a piece to choose not just because "it's brown because it's autumn," but for the expression of colors blending and deepening.
Another way is to choose an autumn piece based on colors like orange or magenta.
Yumi Takimoto's 《PIANO》 is a work that leaves an impression with its vivid colors and the texture of thickly applied paint.
It is not a painting of autumn itself. However, if you look at the richer colors and texture—different from those of summer—it becomes an option that fits the season.
Winter | Choosing warm light or enjoying winter itself
There seem to be two directions in choosing art for winter.
Choosing works that make you feel warm colors or light precisely because it is a cold season.
Or, incorporating motifs that evoke white or winter to enjoy the season itself.
There is no need to decide on just one. The ability to choose based on the day’s mood and the room is the joy of changing your art.
A morning sea painted by Nanako Okawa.
The water surface, touched by the light of the sunrise, is dyed golden, and the entire frame is wrapped in a soft brightness.
Instead of choosing white or blue because it is winter, display a piece that lets you feel warm light precisely because it is a cold season.
That is one way of choosing.
On the other hand, to enjoy the season of winter as it is, consider Jin Kitamura’s 《Snow》.
While it has a title that denotes the season, it is different from a typical landscape painting of a snowy scene.
It makes you realize that a work that feels like winter doesn't necessarily have to be a scene in solid white.
Another way is to choose the season based on animals.
The snowy owl, which inhabits the Arctic circle and other regions. The white feathers and the ivory-toned canvas naturally evoke winter.
Neither a landscape nor an abstract painting, one can feel the season through a single bird.
There are many gateways to choosing art for the four seasons.
You don't have to literally paint the season
Looking at works for the four seasons this way, you can see that there is more than one way to connect a season with a painting.
In spring, you can choose flowers or new buds, or enjoy the shapes of the plants themselves.
In summer, there are landscapes of the sea, as well as abstract paintings in deep blue.
In autumn, you can feel the season through deep colors and paint textures, even if there are no autumn leaves.
Winter is the same. You can choose winter-like motifs, or conversely, add warm light to the room.
It’s not just about "what is painted," but "what you feel from the painting."
When you expand your perspective that far, choosing art according to the seasons becomes much freer.
Changing art means noticing the seasons
You don't need to change your furniture every time the season changes.
You don't need a major remodel; you can just change one piece on the wall.
Put away the painting you displayed in spring and bring out a summer piece. Switch them again when autumn comes, and after winter ends, bring out the work you displayed last spring.
Even if it is the same painting, you might find it looks a little different when you see it again a year later.
Just as we change our clothes for the seasons, it’s fine for your walls to have a rhythm of the year as well.
"I think I’ll display this painting now."
Thinking that can also be a way to notice the shifting of the seasons.
