Red Pillows by Inna Lazarev on zatista.com

As autumn starts to take hold, the return to one’s own living space becomes more evident. With the onset of chilly weather, our thoughts turn toward home, holidays, warm kitchens, and crackling fireplaces. Further, our thoughts turn inward as we reflect upon the year quickly passing. Being indoors during a bitter winter forces us to focus on the simpler things of life and the simple pleasures of the home.

In the Upper Room by Dirk Dzimirsky on zatista.com

Many great artists have explored this theme of the intimate interior scene. For Dutch masters like Vermeer and Pieter de Hooch, interiors were often a way to celebrate the family unit engaged in common activities in a domestic setting and among man made objects, as opposed to vast landscapes and the distant beauty of nature.

Woman Drinking with Soldiers by Pieter de Hooch on wikipedia.org

For an artist like Edward Hopper, interiors provided a way to explore urban isolation and loneliness via solitary figures depicted in private moments, sometimes viewed voyeuristically. There was often melancholy in the spaces he depicted, but there was also a sense of security seen in a familiar environment far from the chaos of city life.

Summer Interior by Edward Hopper on wikipedia.org

Some artists describe the occupant of a room through his absence, as in Van Gogh’s famous depiction of his room in Arles. In this painting, the furnishings and décor tell a story about what has gone on inside the space as well as inside the person who lives there.

Bedroom in Arles by Vincent van Gogh

Each of these methods of depicting interiors have one thing in common: the focus on life indoors and what it means for us to create and call a place “home.” Home does more than provide shelter – it comfortably contains and reflects who we are when we close our doors to the world outside.

Brian Sylvester is a guest blogger on WallSpin, and an artist on Zatista.