Today, I’m sharing with you some of my favourite winter artworks – those that fire up my imagination and make me dream.

Landscape with Snow by Vincent van Gogh (1888)

A view across the fields towards Montmajour. Van Gogh arrived in Arles, France, in February 1888, and in the 15 months he stayed here, he was wonderfully creative, producing 187 paintings in oils and watercolours. This painting is especially precious because it is the first of the Arles works.

Boulevard de Clichy by Paul Signac (1886)

Paul Signac was a French painter who, with Georges Seurat, developed the technique called pointillism. Here, he depicts the Boulevard de Clichy in Paris on a snowy day.

Winter Landscape by Wassily Kandinsky (1909)

From the collection of the Hermitage Museum in St Petersburg, Russia. Kandinsky is generally recognised as the founder of abstract art. This painting, striking for its bright colours and bold shapes, was produced on cardboard.

The Magpie by Claude Monet (1868-9)

Monet produced close to 140 snowscapes, and this is my favourite of them all. When Monet produced the painting, it was rejected by the Paris Salon for his use of light and colour – particularly the innovative use of blue for the shadows rather than black (such colour work would later become popular with the Impressionists).

Winter Landscape with Church by Caspar David Friedrich (1811)

Friedrich painted solemn and Romantic nature scenes designed to stir the spiritual soul. Here, look closely at the foreground and you’ll see a man leaning on the rock, his crutches abandoned, praying before Jesus on the cross.

Winter Sunset by Ivan Fedorovich Choultsé (1920s)

The warmth in this winter landscape is just beautiful. It’s by Russian landscape realistic painter Ivan Fedorovich Choultsé and is privately owned – what a treasure!