De wisseling der jaargetijden, / Doet ieder jeugdig hart verblijden 1848 - 1881

This print by Lutkie & Cranenburg presents four scenes representing the changing seasons, rendered with simplified forms and gentle hues. The composition divides the pictorial space into quadrants, each depicting seasonal activities from plowing fields in spring to gathering fruit in autumn, and the bareness of winter. The artists employ color not to mimic nature, but as a structural element, using soft yellows, blues, and reds to define shapes and delineate figures from the landscape. This selective coloring flattens the perspective, emphasizing the surface quality of the print. The formal choice evokes the era’s interest in breaking from traditional representational modes. The arrangement and style prompt a reading of the seasonal cycle less as a literal depiction and more as a symbolic structure. What we see challenges the illusionistic depth of earlier art forms, and offers a conceptual engagement with time and nature. It reveals a modern sensibility playing with the semiotics of color, form, and space.