George Inness

A Pastoral

c. 1882–85
Oil on canvas, 76.2 x 114.3 cm
Gift of Frank and Katherine Martucci
2013.1.3

A boy in a skiff drives cattle along a stream while a young woman in white descends a nearby path. The two figures come into visual dialogue across the space of the canvas. The woman’s ethereal figure, created with thin layers of translucent paint, contrasts with the everyday reality of the cowherd and his livestock.

George Inness

Autumn in Montclair

c. 1894
Oil on canvas, 73.7 x 91.1 cm
Gift of Frank and Katherine Martucci
2013.1.8

After painting the main elements of this landscape, Inness applied a thin layer of red paint over the composition. Using a rag, he then wiped the red pigment from various parts of the surface to produce a vivid and evocative representation of autumn. Inness returned to the motif of a central elm tree and distant white house several times.

George Inness

Green Landscape

1886
Oil on canvas, 76.8 x 102.6 cm
Gift of Frank and Katherine Martucci
2013.1.5

While painting this landscape Inness shifted the position of the cowherd to the left, away from the grazing calf. This subtle adjustment typifies the care the artist took to create harmonious compositions. In the finished painting, the woman and the calf are balanced on either side of the strong vertical line of the central tree.

George Inness

Home at Montclair

1892
Oil on canvas, 76.5 x 114.3 cm
Acquired by Sterling and Francine Clark, 1955
1955.10

This winter scene shows Inness’s property in Montclair, New Jersey, the subject of many of his late works. The thinly applied paint captures a perfect balance between naturalism and abstraction. As Inness’s son wrote, “There is nothing startling in this great work of art, and yet you are filled with a sense of bigness, grandeur, and the very conviction of truth and nature.”

George Inness

New Jersey Landscape

1891
Oil on canvas, 76.2 x 114.3 cm
Gift of Frank and Katherine Martucci
2013.1.7

Inness used various techniques to produce this delicate landscape painting. Quick touches of the brush contrast with areas of pigment wiped with a rag. The spindly trees in the center have been drawn in the wet paint with the reverse end of the artist’s brush. By softening contours and blurring forms, Inness evoked a sense of the immaterial, spiritual essence of the natural world.

George Inness

Scene at Durham, an Idyll

1882–85
Oil on canvas, 101.6 x 76.2 cm
Gift of Frank and Katherine Martucci
2013.1.4

Inness often worked on his paintings over extended periods. He took three years to complete this canvas, a fact he recorded with the dates inscribed on the canvas. Inness altered the time of day depicted from early to late afternoon by adding orange to the horizon, darkening the rocky ledge, and deepening the shadows in the foliage.

George Inness

Sunrise in the Woods

1887
Oil on canvas, 50.8 x 76.2 cm
Gift of Frank and Katherine Martucci
2013.1.6

Early morning sunlight filters through a dense forest, dramatically throwing forms into deep shadow. Details of the composition emerge through patient contemplation: the figure at left driving cattle, a fallen log with its edges picked out by raking sunlight, and a large silhouetted tree.

George Inness

The Elm Tree

c. 1880
Oil on canvas, 30.8 x 25.4 cm
Gift of Frank and Katherine Martucci
2013.1.2

Inness made this painting of a favorite spot in Milton, New York, in his studio as a compositional study. He used the motif of a central elm tree and distant white house in several other paintings, including Autumn in Montclair.

George Inness

The Road to the Village, Milton

1880
Oil on board, 55.9 x 86.4 cm
Gift of Frank and Katherine Martucci
2013.1.1

Inness probably painted this landscape in one outdoor session. The naturalistic details he recorded and his distinct way of handling paint combine to create a timeless image of a bright summer day.

George Inness

Wood Gatherers: An Autumn Afternoon

1891
Oil on canvas, 76.2 x 114.6 cm
Acquired by Sterling and Francine Clark, 1946
1955.9

A horizontal line of trees separates a hazy background from the foreground where a woman and child gather firewood. Delicate touches of color suggest the season. A soft, misty atmosphere imbues the image with a sense of stillness and peace.