INNESS, George

(b. 1825 Newburgh, d. 1894 Bridge of Allan)

American landscape painter originally influenced by the Hudson River School. He grew up in Newark, and New York City, and received his first artistic training with John Jesse Barker (active 1815-56), an itinerant artist claiming to be a student of Thomas Sully. Inness’s early attraction to the Old Masters, especially to Claude Lorrain, is evident in his landscapes of the 1840s. He went to Rome and Florence in 1847, and in 1854-55 he was in Paris, where he was influenced by the Barbizon School. He spent many years in Europe, with four years in France and Italy (1870-74).

In his last decade he came under the influence of Swedenborg and as a result his landscapes took on Symbolist overtones. There are many works in Boston and in New York (Metropolitan Museum of Art) and other US museums, and one in London (National Gallery).

Morning

Inness’s oeuvre represents the development of American Romantic landscape painting towards a more Realist style which was inspired more directly by nature. The late Morning represents a synthesis of Inness’s new approach to landscape.

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Summer Days

Inness’s oeuvre represents the development of American Romantic landscape painting towards a more Realist style which was inspired more directly by nature. The early Summer Days is still close to the style of Cole and Durand.

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