The Most Evocative and Beautiful Paintings about Summer

Memorial Day weekend is fast-approaching, and with it the unofficial start to the summer season. So we decided to take a journey through the world of paintings to find the most influential, beautiful, famous and evocative masterpieces – both historical and contemporary – on the season of summer and the joys of summertime. Our correspondent Abbie Martin Greenbaum has curated a list of some of the most stunning paintings we could find that will help us all get in the mood for the arrival of the summer season.

Beautiful and Evocative Portraits of Summer

Summer is nearly here! Many of us are stealing walks in the great outdoors, gazing up at the sun, and looking forward to the day we can sprawl on the beach with our best friends.

Even if it feels a little bit different this year, there’s something about the summer that lifts our spirits, no matter how we’re spending it.

So if you’re looking to celebrate the arrival of the season – even if it’s from the inside of your house – we’re here to help. These inspiring works of art will make you feel closer to summer than ever before.

We’ve included works spanning four centuries, each of them paying tribute in different ways to everyone’s favorite time of the year.

It’s fascinating to see what summer has meant to so many artists: for some, it’s running on the beach with wild abandon. For others, it’s trying to sleep in the heat. For some, an electric city scene, and for others, a serene countryside. Most are awash in sunlight, but a precious few are about the mysterious summer moon.

Whatever kind of summer vibe you like the best, you’ll find it here.

The Most Evocative and Beautiful Paintings about Summer

Here are our picks for some of the most influential paintings of summertime, to help us get in the mood and happily pass the time until we can hit the pool or the beach.

1. Takata by Torii Kiyonaga (1782 – 1792)

This woodblock print from the artist’s series “Ten Summer Scenes in Edo” is held by the Art Institute of Chicago.

2. Rhyl Sands by David Cox (1854)

Typically on display at the Tate Museum in London, this quintessential summer image is currently on loan to the Hong Kong Museum of Art. Cox painted it during an August trip to Rhyl, on his way to Bettws, his favorite place in Wales. 

3. Summer in the Catskills by George Inness (1867)

This work from the American landscape painter is currently on view at the Art Institute of Chicago.

4. Beach Scene by Edgar Degas (1868 – 1877)

Though the scene evokes all the feelings of a day at the beach, it was painted in the artist’s studio, rather than by the water’s edge. You can find it today at the National Gallery in London.

5 Bathers at Asnièrs by Georges Seurat (1884)

This work, held by the National Gallery in London, was the first of Seurat’s well-known, enormous masterpieces. The artist was only twenty-four when he completed it.

6. Haystacks, end of Summer by Claude Monet (1891)

A haystack is a method of keeping grain safe until it is ready to harvest. The Impressionist completed a lengthy series of these images, which have remained among his best known. Today the works are on view at the Musée D’Orsay, the Art Institute of Chicago, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and many other collections.

7. Two Women Running on the Beach (The Race) by Pablo Picasso (1922)

A part of the artist’s neo-classical period, this small plywood painting is regarded as one of Picasso’s most significant miniatures. Much has been written about the intentional distortion of the runner’s body parts, as well as the effect of joy that the image evokes. A larger version was used as a backdrop for the ballet “Le Train Bleu.”

8. Early Summer Rain, Arakawa by Kawase Hasui (1932)

This woodblock print depicts the rain in Arakawa, typical of this time of year. Hasui was one of the most acclaimed artists of the shin-hanga movement.  

9. Summer Moon at Miyajima by Tsuchiya Koitsu (1936)

This woodblock is part of a series entitled “Collection of Views of Japan.”

10. A Wheatfield on a Summer’s Afternoon by Marc Chagall (1942)

This image was one of several commissioned by the American Ballet Theater as a backdrop for the ballet Aleko. Based on a poem by Russian writer Pushkin, the show first opened in Mexico City, and then later transferred to the Metropolitan Opera House in New York. In 2017, the backdrops from the ballet departed the Philadelphia Museum of Art for the Aomori Museum of Art in Japan.

11. Summer Street Scene in Harlem by Jacob Lawrence (1948)

This painting, inspired by the vibrancy and creativity of the Harlem Renaissance, can be found today at the Memorial Art Gallery in Rochester, New York.

12. Summer Sleep, New York by Irving Penn (1949)

This is the rare indoor scene that still reminds us of summertime.

13. Second Story Sunlight by Edward Hopper (1960)

This image of two women sunbathing was an attempt by the artist to depict sunlight while using very little yellow pigment in his paints. While Hopper insisted the women portrayed were both modeled on his wife, the artist’s next door neighbors claimed that they must be the ones represented here. The painting now lives at the Whitney Museum of Art in New York.

14. A Bigger Splash by David Hockney (1967)

This depiction of a California swimming pool was based on a photograph. It is an updated version of Hockney’s two earlier paintings, called “A Little Splash” and “The Splash.” You can visit the painting at the Tate Museum in London.  

15. Enjoying a Summer Swim by Damary (Maria Zoila Pineda) (2009)

The artist was born in El Salvador in 1962, and began her art career in 1990. Some art critics place this work in the school of ‘naïve art,’ which is painted in a bright, joyful style and intended to inspire happiness.   

16. The 4th by Henry Taylor (2012-2017)

We first saw this epic tribute to summer and the joys of backyard grilling from one of our favorite artists, Henry Taylor, at the Whitney Biennial in New York in 2017. A reproduction doesn’t really do justice to its massive scale: it’s 13 feet tall.

17. Carolina Beach Swimmer by Lynne Finlay (2014)

The California-based artist has an entire series of summer works, all of which are bursting with summer colors and fully convey the feeling of the season.

18. All the unforgotten bliss (the early bird) by Amy Sherald (2016)

19. Together Swimmingly by Angela Sinclair (2017)

The artist specializes in images of people underwater, and her work appeared in a show entitled “Sea Dreams” in 2019, along with work by artist Janet Triplett.

20. Donut with Sprinkles by Derrick Adams (2017)

21. The Lemon Bathing Suit by Amoako Boafo (2019)

This portrait opened the 20^th Century & Contemporary Art Evening Sale at Phillips London in February 2020. Born in Ghana, the artist currently lives and paints in Vienna, Austria.  

The Most Beautiful Paintings about Summer

That’s it – our picks for some of the most beautiful and moving paintings about the glorious season of summer and the joys of summertime. What’s your favorite painting on this topic?

join our community

For access to insider ideas and information on the world of luxury, sign up for our Dandelion Chandelier Newsletter here. And see luxury in a new light.

Abbie Martin Greenbaum grew up in New York City and currently lives in Brooklyn, where she drinks a lot of coffee and matches roommates together for a living. At Oberlin College, she studied English and Cinema, which are still two of her favorite things, along with dessert and musical theater. She believes in magic.

Forward This Article