Scene at Durham, an Idyll

Inness often worked on his paintings over extended periods. He started this painting in 1882, making changes to the composition and the color over the next three years. The artist altered the time of day from early to late afternoon by adding orange to the horizon, darkening the rocky ledge, and deepening the shadows in the foliage.

Image Caption

George Inness, Scene at Durham, an Idyll, 1882–85, oil on canvas on composite board. Clark Art Institute, gift of Frank and Katherine Martucci, 2013.1.4

Provenance

The artist; [possibly sold through American Art Association, New York, 1885];[1] William H. Fuller, New York (by 1885-1898); E. Burgess Warren, Philadelphia (by 1899-d. 1917, as Summer Pastoral); Mrs. Louis F. Benson (née Caroline Perot Warren), his daughter, by descent (1917); [M. Knoedler & Co., New York, 1917-1918, as Summer Pastoral and Summer Pastoral Saco Valley, Leeds, NY, sold to John Levy, May 1918]; [John Levy Galleries, New York, 1918]; [Findlay Galleries, Chicago, by 1931]; [Hanzel Galleries, Inc., Chicago]; [Hirschl-Adler Galleries, New York, by 1978]; [Meredith Long & Company, Houston, 1978]; [Thomas Colville, Inc., New Haven]; [Jordan-Volpe Gallery, Inc., New York, by 1985]; Frank and Katherine Martucci, New York (by 1991-2013, by gift to the Clark Art Institute); Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, 2013. [1] American Art Association lends painting in Illustrated Catalogue of the Art Gallery of the Southern Exposition (1884) and Inness continue to work on the painting until 1885.