George Inness (American, 1825–1894) Upland Pasture

Signed and dated 'G. Inness. 1862' bottom left, oil on canvas
10 x 16 1/8 in. (25.4 x 41cm)

Provenance

Thomas Colville, Inc., New Haven, Connecticut.
Private Collection, Berwyn, Pennsylvania, by 1983.
Knoke Fine Arts, Marietta, Georgia.
Acquired directly from the above.
Private Collection, California.

Footnote:

Exhibited

"American Collections: Art for Art’s Sake and For the Love of Glass," Marietta/Cobb Museum of Art, Marietta, Georgia, April 8-June 18, 2017 (as Going Home, Medfield, Massachusetts).

Literature

Michael Quick, George Inness: A Catalogue Raisonné, Rutgers University Press, New Brunswick, New Jersey and London, Vol. I, pp. 165 (mentioned), 179, 224, fig. 141, no. 198 (illustrated twice).

Note

The present work is an important testament to George Inness' spectacular change of style circa 1862, which coincides with the artist's move to Medfield the same year. Limited in size, the painting is fierce in spirit with a thinly painted foreground - a quick and "gestural" brushwork, as well as pure hues of red and green, which suggest the work was executed directly outdoors, although it is in fact a studio piece. As Michael Quick notes, "this direct-painting style was capable of considerable finesse, retaining its freshness while still rendering persuasive forms in finished studio paintings." In fact, through its quick style, the painting embodies Inness' new, mystical relationship to nature, by which the vivacity of the brushwork should equal the intensity of the emotion felt while examining the landscape. It also responds to the new taste the artist had witnessed in the Boston area (as opposed to New York circles which, up until 1878, didn’t favor the master's bold technique), and that some critics loosely tied with the French Barbizon painters, including Jean-Baptiste Camille Corot and Charles-François Daubigny.

Condition report:

Frame: 16 x 22 x 2 3/4 in.

The relined canvas in overall fair to good condition, with craquelure throughout the surface of the canvas. Examination under UV light reveals scattered retouching: at bottom left (in the grass), bottom center (in the grass along the edge), bottom right quadrant (near the log, to the left of it, the right and above it). Some repairs also noticeable at upper right in the sky, along the right outer edge of the canvas. Some retouching also at upper center in the sky (to the right of the main tree), as well as along the outer edge of the canvas, and at upper left corner. Some pnpoint retouching in the bus around the main figure (very minor). The pants of the main figure appear to have enhanced. See specialist's pictures for more details.