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George Inness (1825-1894)  Inness began his career in 1841 as an apprentice in a map engraver's firm in
New York City, where he worked for one year. The
only formal training he received came from Regis Gignoux. Following
that, Inness opened his own studio in 1845, the same year he first exhibited
at the American Art Union.
He first exhibited
at the National Academy of
Design in 1844 and continued to do so for
the rest of his life. He also exhibited
frequently at the Brooklyn Art Association.
He was elected a member of the Century Association in 1853 and resigned in 1890. Inness seems to have had an inner restlessness, for he moved frequently and made numerous trips to England, Italy, and France, where he was exposed to the Barbizon School. Following Inness's exposure to the Barbizon School, his compositions lost the tight linearity of his early work. Inness was fond of New Hampshire and kept a studio on the second floor of the North Conway Academy for several years before 1876. The last sixteen years of his life included trips to Mexico City, Cuba, Florida, the Yosemite Valley, and Europe. Of his painting and of an
artist's obligations, Inness said, "A work of art does not appeal to the
intellect. It does not appeal to the moral
sense. Its aim is not to instruct, not to
edify, but to awaken an emotion." Such a philosophy is a direct
contradiction of the aims of earlier landscapists such as
Thomas Cole and Alvan Fisher, and of the
topographical clarity of David Johnson and
Asher B. Durand. References Credits |
