I love this place; I love mountains and big skies and forests. And the weather is still supremely beautiful even though the lower peaks are powdered with fresh snow. But Heavens! What sun. It never has an ending. I am basking at this minute – half past four – too hot without a hat, & the sky is that transparent blue only to be seen in autumn – the forest trees steeped in light.
Katherine Mansfield, The Collected Letters of Katherine Mansfield: Volume 1: 1903-1917
“October was a beautiful month at Green Gables, when the birches in the hollow turned as golden as sunshine and the maples behind the orchard were royal crimson and the wild cherry trees along the lane put on the loveliest shades of dark red and bronzy green, while the fields sunned themselves in aftermaths.
“Anne reveled in the world of color about her.
“’Oh, Marilla,’ she exclaimed one Saturday morning, coming dancing in with her arms full of gorgeous boughs, ‘I’m so glad I live in a world where there are Octobers. It would be terrible if we just skipped from September to November, wouldn’t it? Look at these maple branches. Don’t they give you a thrill—several thrills? I’m going to decorate my room with them.’”
The basic meaning of ‘autumn colour’ is clear. Even within that palette, there is a huge variety of hues illustrators use to depict fall. Below are examples including realism and heightened, saturated fantasy colours.
Walt Peregoy (1925 – 2015) 1961 rare concept illustration for Disney’s One Hundred and One DalmatiansEdith Blackwell Holden (1871-1920 UK). The SeasonsC.F.Tunnicliffe for What To Look For In Autumn (Ladybird)C.F.Tunnicliffe for What To Look For In Autumn (Ladybird)Raking Leaves by Clara M Burd, 1930Adolph K Kronengold – 1929 autumn trees flatAlbert Hubbelll (1908-1994)Autumn Landscape Léon de Smet (1881-1966)Golden Autumn (1895) by Isaac LevitanParis Street Scene, Autumn c.1889 Childe HassamRoute du Fond in Hermitage, Pontoise, 1877 – Camille Pissarro‘Autumn Garden’, John Aldridge, oil on canvas, 1967Eero Järnefelt (Finnish painter) 1863-1937André Derain (French painter) 1880-1954 The Sunken Path, l’Estaque, 1906Maxfield Parrish (American, 1870-1966) Golden Hours [Only God Can Make a Tree], 1929Autumn An Alphabet Acrostic by Steven Schnur, illustrated by Leslie Evans (1997)Autumn An Alphabet Acrostic by Steven Schnur, illustrated by Leslie Evans (1997)George Bellows (American, 1882-1925) My House, Woodstock, 1924Walter Emerson Baum Swashbuckling OaksCharles Saxon (American, 1920-1988) 1974S.R. Badman, 1949. “Mangold [aka mangel-wurzel] are being built into a clamp for storage through the winter. Hedges are being trimmed and ditches cleaned in preparation for the winter storms. Potatoes are being lifted. On fields which have been harvested, manure is being spread to enrich the ground for next year’s sowing and follow land is being plowed for the sowing of winter wheat.”
October and her dad live in the woods. They sleep in the house Dad built for them and eat the food they grow in the vegetable patches. They know the trees and the rocks and the lake and stars like best friends. They read the books they buy in town again and again until the pages are soft and yellow – until next year’s town visit. They live in the woods and they are wild. And that’s the way it is.
Until the year October turns eleven. That’s the year October rescues a baby owl. It’s the year Dad falls out of the biggest tree in their woods. The year the woman who calls herself October’s mother comes back. The year everything changes.
This book is a feast for the senses, filled with the woodsmoke smell of crisp autumn mornings and the sound of wellies squelching in river mud. And, as October fights to find the space to be wild in the whirling chaos of the world beyond the woods, it is also a feast for the soul
Achiel Van SassenbrouckCover of a Swedish school reader, Vill du läsa (Do You Want to Read) illustrated by Elsa Beskow (1874-1953)Woman’s World Magazine Oct 1920Now That Days Are Colder by Aileen Fisher, Designed & Illustrated by Gordon Laite, Lettering by Paul Taylor (1973)Now That Days Are Colder by Aileen Fisher, Designed & Illustrated by Gordon Laite, Lettering by Paul Taylor (1973)Now That Days Are Colder by Aileen Fisher, Designed & Illustrated by Gordon Laite, Lettering by Paul Taylor (1973)by Edna Eicke (1919-1979)Edna Eicke (1919-1979) New Yorker cover 1952Illustration by Fanny Young Cory (1877-1972) Jack Frost autumnJohn Held Jr. 1922 A Rustic BaccanalEasy Answers to Hard Questions pictures by Susan Perl text by Susanne Kirtland (1968) why do leaves change colourGARRETT PRICE, The New Yorker, October 15 1949Leaf Picker (Ramasseuse de feuilles) by Ernest Bieler, 1909Peter BaginPeter BaginGarrett Price (1896-1979) 1951illustrated by Ilonka Karasz (1896 – 1981) Hungarian illustrator, The New Yorker 1942 holiday home autumnJohnny Maple-Leaf by Alvin Tresselt, illustrated by Roger Duvoisin, 1948Johnny Maple-Leaf by Alvin Tresselt, illustrated by Roger Duvoisin, 1948Johnny Maple-Leaf by Alvin Tresselt, illustrated by Roger Duvoisin, 1948Pedro Roldán Molina, SpanishHOWARD FOGG (American, 1917-1996) Train Traveling Through The LandscapeMichael O’Toole autumn‘The Dream of Three Birch Trees’ Cover by Antonio Rubino, 1949 (text has been removed)Ryohei TanakaThis illustration by Arthur Getz (1913-1996) was the cover art for the October 11 1958 edition of The New Yorker.Tadahiro Uesugi autumn palettePedro Roldán Molina Spanish artistEd Sandoval, New MexicoEd Sandoval, New MexicoEd Sandoval, New MexicoMarit Törnqvist, Swedish-Dutch illustratorVincent Van Gogh People Strolling in a Paris Park,1886Zdzislaw Witwicki (Polish illustrator 1921-2019) from Who Lives In The ForestZdzislaw Witwicki (Polish illustrator 1921-2019) from Who Lives In The ForestZdzislaw Witwicki (Polish illustrator 1921-2019) from Who Lives In The ForestZdzislaw Witwicki (Polish illustrator 1921-2019) from Who Lives In The ForestZdzislaw Witwicki (Polish illustrator 1921-2019) from Who Lives In The ForestEmma Brownjohn. Autumn colours, 1969From Loraine and the Little People by Elizabeth Gordon and illustrated by M. T. Ross, 1915Fun with Leaves. United Church Press, 1962. By Sunny B. Warner. This illustration of autumn makes much use of blue (as a complementary colour).Carl Larsson AutumnIllustration by Brian Wildsmith in ‘ The North Wind and the Sun’, Oxford University Press. First published 1964, this reprint 1974Shingebiss from Stories That Never Grow Old by Watty Piper (Editor), George Hauman (Illustrator), Doris Hauman (Illustrator), copyright 1952, first published in 1938by Adam Kilian, 1973, Polish autumn‘Shade Tree, April 12, 1958’ Giclee Print – Richard SargentMichael O’Toole – CanadianOcke, Nutta och Pillerill, Elsa Beskow 1939Ocke, Nutta och Pillerill, Elsa Beskow 1939Fedir Konovalyuk (1890 – 1984) autumnIllustration by Kawakami Shiro ( 川上四郎 絵) forKodomo no kuni (Children’s Land), c1920s and 30s autumnCamping on Lake Chautauqua by the Gibson Lithographing Co., illustrator not creditedWilliam Mellor – Autumn on the Lledr sheep riverBenjamin Leader – Unterseen, Interlaken – Autumn in Switzerland
Artists from the Czech Republic are well-known for their use of vibrant palettes. For some children’s book examples, see here.
Czech artist Mirko Hanák was born in 1921 in Prague (Czech Republic) and worked as a painter, graphic artist, designer and illustrator. Basically Mirko portrayed animals and people in his paintings and illustrations, which were full of life and fun. He had a great sense of composition.
Mirko Hanák was working on Charlotte’s Web when he tragically died at the height of his career from leukemia in 1971
Mirko Hanák, Czech painter graphic artist and illustrator (1921-1971)Bleeding Forest Theodor Kittelsen 1905Country Gentleman Magazine October 1944 cover art by Henry Soulen (not a particularly good one, but the best I could do with low resolution).Francisco Fonseca, Portuguese Illustrator, Autumn Reading
Japan is another country with distinct four seasons and art which reflects that.
Autumn, Hakone Museum (1954) Toshi Yoshida (1911-1995)1909 Franklin Motor Car -Touring through the autumn woodsRonald Lampitt autumn sceneBenjamin Leader – Autumn’s Last GleamJames Thomas Watts – Autumn Woods 1885William Stott of Oldham – Autumn 18981925 illustration by Paul Allier, Autumn, fashionAutumn Landscape pencil and watercolour 45 x 57.5 cm John Nash, not datedLeaf Peepers, cover art by Argentine cartoonist Ricardo Siri, also known as Liniers autumnSulamith Wulfing (1901-1989) 1950s illustration. Difficult to be specific about what this is for, but Wulfing illustrated many postcards and playing card sets which were collected in the 1970s.
