The Gilded Age in American Art

Evaluation | Curriculum Connections | Resources | Tours 1876 - 1917

George Inness Biography

1825 - Born in Newburgh, New York, to middle class, prosperous parents, Inness grew up in New York City and Newark, New Jersey. Received little academic or artistic training during youth because of severe illnesses
1844 - Exhibits at the National Academy of Design in New York. The detailed realism and panoramic views of the Hudson River School artists, such as Thomas Cole and Asher B. Durand, influence his early works. His landscapes communicate an objective romantic realism.
1840s-50s - Travels to Europe through the patronage of Ogeden Haggerty, a merchant collector. Through his travels he encountered works by contemporary European artists, the old masters, and, most importantly, the French Barbizon School.
Early 1860s - Studies theology and metaphysics. Prefers organized religion and tries a variety.
1864 - Moves to Eagleswood, New Jersey, where he was converted to Swedenborgianism. His new religious beliefs had a profound effect on the style of his art. His works become more intimate and amorphous with dramatic effects of light and atmosphere. They begin to evoke a more subjective, lyrical impression of appearances. He believe that, "The true purpose of the painter is simply to reproduce in other minds the impression which the scene made on him. (George Inness , Jr., Life, Art and Letters of George Inness, Century Company, New York, 1917, p. 131.)
1868 - Elected a full member of The National Academy of Design
1878 - Settles in Montclair, New Jersey
1881 - Figures become a more dominant element in his paintings. The development of more intimate views of nature encouraged this. Before, his figures were a quite small part of a vast panorama, included to supply a note of color or point of interest.
1893 - Exhibits works at the World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago. By this time, all interest in solid forms has evaporated. His works synthesize floating masses, colors, and his mystical religious vision.
1894 - Dies in Scotland