The 4 Seasons of Maud Madsen

In 1565, Pieter Bruegel the Elder was commissioned by Antwerp merchant Nicolaas Jonghelinck to create the Series of the Months (also called the Labors of the Months), a cycle of paintings comprising twelve panels, one per month. The works demonstrated the seasonal atmosphere, with each panel capturing something almost meteorological — the cold, hazy stillness of January; the oppressive heat of August. Bruegel was exceptionally good at making you feel the season. There are also depictions of human activity embedded in nature, peasants working, resting, and moving through landscapes that dwarf them. This wasn't a moral statement so much as an observation — humanity as part of a larger natural cycle.

Only 5 of those works survive today, but Maud Madsen found inspiration in Pieter Bruegel the Elder’s work in her own new body of paintings, One Foot in Eden, opening at Half Gallery this week in NYC. The women in these works seem to comfort each other based on the conditions of the natural world around them, immersed in the seasons. There is something quiet about the works, almost an unspoken understanding of cycles of life, of observation, of companionship. Eden is a paradise, but also a warning, knowing exactly what happens when you leave the utopia.

That title is illuminating, because though it seems like these companions are at peace in this quiet place, actively participating in the earthly wonders, these places of harmony can’t last forever. Reality seeps in, but Madsen almost suggests to us maybe we need to find these spaces for ourselves and our loved ones more often. Maybe that is the key to life; giving yourself a moment as each season passes. —Evan Pricco