The Olives
Artist: George Inness (American, 1825-1894)
Date: 1873
Dimensions:
H: 20 1/16 in. (51 cm); W: 30 1/16 in. (76.4 cm)
Medium: Oil on canvas.
Classification: Paintings
Credit Line: Gift of J. D. Robinson in memory of his wife, Mary Elizabeth Robinson
Object number: 1930.3
Label Text:“I had begun to see that elaborateness in detail did not gain me meaning…. I could not sustain it everywhere and produce the sense of spaces and distances and with them that subjective mystery of nature…”
— George Inness
The Olives was made during George Inness’s sojourn in Italy from 1870 to 1874. Although he had begun to paint more detailed scenes to satisfy American art collectors, The Olives shows greater breadth in the handling of the paint, less detail, and an interpretation of the subject that is more evocative than descriptive. Inness developed an increasingly personal vision of landscape painting. The lush, heightened color and dramatic lighting effects contribute to the almost dreamlike atmosphere, a hallmark of Inness’s later paintings.
— George Inness
The Olives was made during George Inness’s sojourn in Italy from 1870 to 1874. Although he had begun to paint more detailed scenes to satisfy American art collectors, The Olives shows greater breadth in the handling of the paint, less detail, and an interpretation of the subject that is more evocative than descriptive. Inness developed an increasingly personal vision of landscape painting. The lush, heightened color and dramatic lighting effects contribute to the almost dreamlike atmosphere, a hallmark of Inness’s later paintings.
Not on view
In Collection(s)