The Gilded Age in American Art

Discussion Starters: Cultural/Historical
Consider how this work relates to the Gilded Age.

Key Points:

• Influence of European styles
• Impact of new scientific and religious theories
• Seeking to reconcile turbulence of the Industrial Revolution

The French Barbizon School influenced Inness' paintings. Barbizon school works are characterized by more subtle, intimate compositions; more informal pictorial constructions; a broad manner; a limited palette; less attention to detail; and a golden tonality that pulls everything together. How do these characteristics apply to The Gleaners?

As a means of suffusing religious feeling into the landscape, Inness departs from representation. His palpable brushwork declares that what you are looking at is a painted surface. How else does Inness show that this landscape is art rather than a depiction of reality?

New religious theories, specifically Swedenborgianism, strongly impacted Inness' art. Swedenborgians believe that the spiritual and physical exist together. The spiritual world has appearance, but lacks physical substance. Inness painted appearances. The brightness of the light and generalized diffuse light represent the spiritual being in nature. Harmony of color, tone, and form carries religious symbolism. How does Inness combine the spiritual and the physical in this landscape?

How does The Gleaners reflect a desire to escape the modern industrial age? As a reaction to the turbulence of the times (increased industrialization and urbanization, Post Civil War loss of innocence, and uncertainty caused by new scientific theories-Charles Darwin and Herbert Spencer), in his later works, Inness preferred to focus on intimate landscapes rather than modernization and industrialization.