Autumn — from The Seasons

Autumn gathers the harvest: a woman in russet and gold reaches among vines and chrysanthemums, a cluster of grapes in her hand, the whole panel warmed to the colour of ripe fruit and late sun. It is the fullness of the year, the moment before the turn — richer and more settled than Spring’s promise or Summer’s languor. Mucha completes his quiet argument that the seasons are best understood as temperaments, each with her own colour and posture. The third of the four Seasons of 1896; hung with Spring, Summer and Winter it carries the eye all the way around the calendar. Ornament in the service of the year itself.

Maker

Alphonse Mucha (1860 to 1939)

Date

1896

Medium of the original

Painting

Original held by

Published Paris

Credit

Published Paris · via Wikimedia Commons

Rights

Public domain, verified

Catalogue number

PA-00652