September Noon
Artist: George Inness (American, 1825-1894)
Date: 1892
Dimensions:
H: 30 in. (78.8 cm); W: 45 in. (140.2 cm)
Medium: Oil on canvas
Classification: Paintings
Credit Line: Gift of an anonymous donor
Object number: 1986.107
Label Text:“The purpose of the painter is simply to reproduce in other minds the impression which a scene has made upon him.”
George Inness
Instead of awe-inspiring vistas of the vast American landscape, George Inness chose to depict more modest views, relying on his memory rather than sketching directly from nature. Inness used glowing color, broad brushwork, and dreamlike “soft focus” to indicate the spiritual aspects of nature. He often included a solitary figure, face obscured, to reinforce the focus on the introspective qualities of the landscape. Inspired by the philosophy of nature-based spiritualism that also influenced Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau, Inness creates unity in his highly personal paintings by combining, as he described it, “both the subjective sentiment—the poetry of nature—with the objective fact.”
George Inness
Instead of awe-inspiring vistas of the vast American landscape, George Inness chose to depict more modest views, relying on his memory rather than sketching directly from nature. Inness used glowing color, broad brushwork, and dreamlike “soft focus” to indicate the spiritual aspects of nature. He often included a solitary figure, face obscured, to reinforce the focus on the introspective qualities of the landscape. Inspired by the philosophy of nature-based spiritualism that also influenced Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau, Inness creates unity in his highly personal paintings by combining, as he described it, “both the subjective sentiment—the poetry of nature—with the objective fact.”
Not on view
In Collection(s)