Philadelphia Museum Of Art: The Four Seasons By Leon Frederic

“The Four Seasons” by Leon Frederic was the most stood out painting in the Philadelphia Museum of Art. “The Four Seasons” is named appropriately to describe the meaning after the oil paintings. When I look at these oil paintings I see or think about the different seasons we have in a year, and the change it brings to the nature. This particular art piece by Leon Frederic seems to be about the different seasons and what makes each of them different. “The Four Seasons” shows the different seasons by the color used in the backgrounds, different types of nature used, and also the different expressions shown on the girls face.

I feel the different seasons when looking at each of the paintings in “The Four Seasons”. The first painting reminds me

of spring because of the cool colors used, and also the flowers seem to be fresh and new. The second painting looks more like summer because of the orange and yellow used which indicates the sun. The different types of fruit painted and the leaves falling in the third painting seems to be about the autumn. The flowers dyeing and also the dark background indicate the winter in the fourth painting.
Section B: Elements and Principles
Leon Frederic uses all different types of elements in “The Four Seasons”.

Frederic uses actual lines in the oil paintings of the four seasons. The actual lines are visible when looking at all the different nature and the girls. Frederic also uses diagonal lines to show motion and action. The Diagonal lines are shown through the girls movements in each of the paintings. Organic forms are used to create the nature, and girls created by using the geometric forms. Frederic uses value through out the oil painting to describe the different seasons. For example in the first painting of the spring, Frederic used low contrast and low key values, and in the last painting of winter Frederic used high contrast and low key values. In “The Four Seasons”, all

different
types of hue are used. For example in the first painting of spring cool colors are used to show the blue sky and bright colors are used to show the fresh flowers. Frederic uses warm colors in the second painting, which is the summer painting to emphasize the hot sun. 2 dimensional spaces are created in the oil paintings of “The Four Seasons”. Linear perspective and overlapping are used to create space in “The Four Seasons”. Frederic uses nature as the pattern in the oil paintings of the seasons, and implied texture.
The principles used in the oil paintings of “The Four Seasons”, are balance, rhythm, unity, variety and also emphasis. The balances of the four oil paintings are symmetrical. For example, the girls are placed in the center with nature cascading around them. Rhythm is showed by using nature in all of the four paintings. The girls in the four paintings represent as unity and the different nature used is represented as variety. The emphasis in all of the four paintings is the girl in the middle.
Section C: Context
The spring from “The Four Seasons” was created in 1893 and summer, autumn and winter were created in 1894 (Philadelphia Museum of Art).

The time period of 1890s was called the “Gilded age” (Sutton). One of the most important contribution to art world was created in 1890s, and it was the American Arts and Crafts Movements (Sutton). Architecture was becoming larger and was noticed by the public, for example the 17th story Manhattan Life Insurance building was built in the New York City (Sutton). During 1892, the business and economy were booming, and different types of organizations were created for the workingman, such as United Mine Workers, and the American Railway Union (Sutton). Education was getting higher, and more people started sending their kids to big universities (Sutton). Science and technology

was
becoming modern and was being improved (Sutton).
Section D: Conclusion
These oil paintings of “The Four Seasons” by Leon Frederic stood out the most to me because of the colors used and innocence of the oil paintings. These paintings also reminded me of Arcimboldo’s portraits made of vegetables, which is one of the main reasons why these paintings caught my eye. Another reason for choosing this piece of artwork was so I can learn more about it, but since the artist or the paintings were not very popular not much information was found. I personally love the paintings because of all the nature that is used. My favorite painting out of the four would have to be the summer because of the intense use of color and the flowers.
I think the artist was trying to describe all four seasons without words, and what they represent. Frederic from my point of view does a phenomenal job on describing the four seasons without words, and how they are connected with each other. The warm and cool colors contrast that Frederic uses help describe the four seasons. “The Four Seasons” is definitely worthy of being in the Philadelphia Museum of Art. I believe that these paintings by Leon Frederic do not get the attention that is very much need. If I had all the money in the world I would not buy these paintings because I believe everyone should get the chance to experience every art work there is in the world, popular or not.