Welcome! And let us hope you will be a real happy new year (1895)

John Samuel Pughe's painting, "Welcome! And let us hope you will be a real happy new year (1895)," captures a poignant and reflective moment within a timeless cycle of change. This allegorical piece embodies the transition from one year to the next through a dramatic and artistically rendered scene.In this painting, we see two central figures: a cherubic child representing the New Year of 1895 and a more mature, yet still youthful figure, holding a large pen, symbolizing the passing of the previous year, 1894. The cherub, marked by a sash with '1895,' flies joyfully towards its predecessor, arms extended in a gesture of welcoming and readiness to take over the responsibilities of the year. The outgoing year, clad in a black robe tied with a pink ribbon, looks on with cautious optimism or perhaps a hint of reluctance, understandable after having borne the weight of the past twelve months.Central to the imagery is the swirling, tumultuous cloud encapsulating the ghostly visage labeled "PANIC" and the year "1894," suggesting that the previous year was marked by moments of turmoil and uncertainty. This cloud swirls dramatically around the figures, emphasizing the sometimes chaotic nature of time’s passage.Pughe's use of soft yet vibrant watercolors and the dynamic interplay of movement within the composition captures the essence of temporal transition—both its hope and its challenges.