The title 《The Christmas Tree by the Sea》 reflects the way the images and colors in this painting evoke memories of a cold winter. I recall a winter visit to Brighton, a seaside town in southern England. I remember the small amusement park, Brighton Palace Pier, with its Christmas tree decorations swaying in the dusk wind. The cold air, playful children, and adults with relatively solemn faces created a complex contrast in life status.
As I stood next to the Christmas tree and listened repeatedly to the festive music, I didn’t feel relaxed. Instead, the holiday atmosphere seemed to highlight my worries about the distant future. The Christmas tree, which I mentally associated with loneliness, remains vividly in my memory, much like Caspar David Friedrich's Monk by the Sea. Although it's a small fragment of memory, it continues to shine brightly from afar.
