Art Work of George Inness

George Inness
(1825 -1894)

George Inness last words on this earth were reported to be "My God! oh, how beautiful!", when viewing a Scottish sunset at Bridge of Allan, he then fell to the ground dead having suffered a massive stoke. This may seem a macabre way to introduce him but focus as his last words and thoughts were about the beauty of the sunset he was viewing it's not surprising that he was a great lanscpe painter. To view the beauty of nature through fresh eyes and appreciate it's wonders until his very last moment on this earth is quite an inspiration for others, be they great master landscape artistsor bagmen. This is the way I'd like to pass from this world, still in awe of it's tremendous beauty.
I'm a great fan of George Inness and his works for he was a great master of landscape painting. George Inness was born May 1, 1894. He is best known for these mature works that helped define the Tonalist movement. Inness was from a large family of 13 children whose father was a grocer. He began formerly studying art at the age of 5 under with a month's instruction from painter, John Jesse Barker. Inness studied under Regis Francois Gignoux around 1843 while he was studying the prints and paintings of Claude Lorrain and some of seventeenth-century Dutch landscape masters.. He attended the National Academy of Design in his 20's and later the Husdon River School with artists Thomas Cole and Asher Durand.Many of his earlier works are strongly influenced by Cole and Durand - Inness wanted to combine the best of both Cole's and Durand's styles into his own work which is evident in his earlier work.
During his time at the Hudson River School., Inness opened his first studio in New York. In 1849 Inness married Delia Miller, who died a few months later. The next year he married Elizabeth Abigail Hart, with whom he would have six children. Inness began exhibiting his works at the National Academy of Design in 1844 where he continued to exhibit until he died. He became a very important member of the Society of American artists and did much to influence the policies of the Academy of Design when he was as an Associate. The Academy of Design even held Inness funeral service upon his death. " In 1878, Inness's fortunes improved when Thomas B. Clarke, a prominent New York art dealer, became his agent. He took a studio in the New York University Building and bought a house and studio in Montclair, New Jersey. His theories on painting were published in Harper's New Monthly Magazine in 1878 and 1882; in 1882, Charles De Kay, under the pseudonym Henry Eckford, wrote an important critical article about his work. Two years later, a major exhibition of Inness's work was sponsored by John E Sutton, proprietor of the American Art Association, from which the artist emerged as the leading light in American landscape painting, an eminent position he enjoyed for the rest of his career. During the last years of his life, he spent summers traveling and painting in Connecticut, New York, Massachusetts, Virginia, California, and Florida.”