Cold Comforts

The introduction to Winter Count: Embracing the Cold serves notice that the paintings in the National Gallery of Canada’s big exhibition by the same title are not to be taken lightly. Jean-François Bélisle, the museum’s director and CEO, repeatedly leans into words like “endurance,” “resilience,” and “survival.” As he puts it in this handsome and bilingual book, “Winter teaches that beauty and brutality can coexist.”

It sounds daunting. Thankfully, the actual art gathered for this seasonal survey is heavy on beauty and light on brutality. In fact, only a handful of the 164 works in Winter Count evoke hardship. From impressionist superstars to Group of Seven heroes, from Scandinavian snowscape specialists to Inuit printmakers, these pages brim with delight in winter scenes along with the pleasures of cozy interiors.

Some of the pieces might serve as reminders that harsh weather demands respect. Yet nobody who looks at Jeannie...