George Inness:
Poet of the American
Landscape
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George Inness:
Poet of the American Landscape
George Inness (1825-1894), originally famous for expanding the vocabulary of the
Hudson River School topographical landscape through his introduction of painterly
French Barbizon techniques, was later celebrated for his soft, light-infused poetic
suggestions of nature.
Inness was ultimately concerned wth evoking, rather than describing, the landscape
through his suggestive representation of trees, clouds, rocks, and figures. Unique
among American landscape painters, he continued to expand his vision throughout his
career in an effort to embody the spiritual essence of nature.
“The fire and vitality, the insatiable curiosity,
the willingness to try new experiments, were as
strong in him at the end of his life as they were
at the beginning.”
~From the Artist’s Obituary~
Thomas Colville Fine Art
www.thomascolville.com | [email protected]
111 Old Quarry Road | Guilford | CT | 06437 | 203-453-2449
1000 Madison Avenue | New York | NY | 10075 | 212-879-9259
By Appointment
GEORGE INNESS
(American 1825-1894)
A June Day, 1881
Oil on canvas
24 x 30 inches
Signed and dated G. Inness 1881 lower left
Inscribed Study from Nature on the stretcher
Provenance:
Esther H. Byers, 1900
Gifted from the above to Abbot Academy, John-Esther Gallery, Andover, Massachusetts, until 1972
Sale: Sotheby Parke-Bernet, April 19, 1972, lot 63, illustrated
Hirschl & Adler Galleries, New York, 1972
Purchased from the above by Mr. and Mrs. Norman Cahners, Brookline, Massachusetts, 1973
By descent to the family of Helene Raab Cahners, until 2013
Exhibited:
New York, Hirschl & Adler Galleries, Faces and Places: Changing Images of 19th Century America, December
1972-January 1973, no. 47, illustrated in color
Note:
This work is accompanied by a letter from Dr. Michael Quick stating it is to be included in the forthcoming
supplement to the catalogue raisonné.
GEORGE INNESS
(American 1825-1894)
Across the Meadows, Montclair, New Jersey, circa 1891-93
Oil on canvas
31 7/8 x 41 1/8 inches
Signed G. Inness lower right
Provenance:
The artist
Estate of the above
Fifth Avenue Art Galleries, New York, Executor’s Sale of Paintings by the Late George Inness, N.A., 12-14
February 1895, lot 197, sold by the above
C.H. Russell, acquired from the above
George H. Ainslee Galleries, New York, by 1912
John F. Braun, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, by 1926
Leroy Ireland, New York
Victor D. Spark, New York
Parke-Bernet, New York, 11 October 1951, lot 82
(Possibly) James Graham & Sons, New York
Stouffer’s Restaurant, New York
Thomas Colville Fine Art
Babcock Galleries, New York
Acquired by the present owner from the above
Note:
This painting is included in Dr. Michael Quick’s catalogue raisonne of the artist’s work. For detailed
literature and exhibition history, please email the gallery at [email protected].
GEORGE INNESS
(American 1825-1894)
Albano, Italy, circa 1872
Oil on panel
9 ½ x 13 ⅜ inches
Signed G. Inness lower right
Provenance:
F.J. Smith, George Inness Executor’s Sale, February 1895
Private Collection, Southern California, 1940
By descent from the above
Exhibited:
New York, American Fine Arts Society, Exhibition of Paintings Left by the Late George Inness,
December 1894, no. 179
Note:
This painting is to be included in the supplement to Michael Quick’s catalogue raisonné of the
artist’s works.
GEORGE INNESS
(American 1825-1894)
Alexandria Bay on the St. Lawrence River, 1878
Oil on millboard
16 x 24 inches
Signed G. Inness lower right center
Provenance:
Elizabeth Hart Inness, widow of the artist
Sale: New York, Fifth Avenue Art Galleries, Mrs. George Inness Executor’s Sale, 11 – 13
February 1904, no. 8, as Alexandria Bay on St. Lawrence River, 1878
John Bannon, New York
Sale: New York, Fifth Avenue Art Galleries, John Bannon Sale, 23 – 24 February 1905,
no. 91, as Alexandria Bay, on the St. Lawrence
Purchased at the above by William Clausen, New York, 1905
Sale: Fifth Avenue Art Galleries, New York, organized by William Clausen, 10 March
1906, no. 449
Purchased at the above by D. Roberts, 1906
Gustav Reichard, New York
Sale: New York, American Art Association, Reichard sale, 16 April 1917, no. 49,
Purchased at the above by Kleinberger Galleries, New York
Charles H. and Mary F. S. Worcester, Chicago
The Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, 1935 – 1974
Literature:
The Art Institute of Chicago, Paintings in the Art Institute of Chicago, 1961, p. 221
Leroy Ireland, Works of George Inness: An Illustrated Catalogue Raisonné, Austin, Texas,
1965, p. 208, no. 839, illustrated
C. C. J., Father of Modern American Landscape Painted Scenes of St. Lawrence River,
Watertown Daily Times, February 17, 1966, pg. 4,
Carole Drachler, George Inness: American Landscape Painter (1825-1894), MA thesis,
Northwestern University, 1969, discussed pp. 40-42, illustrated at plate 11
Werner, Inness Landscapes, New York, Watson-Guptill Publications, 1973, p. 60-61
Michael Quick, George Inness: A Catalogue Raisonné, Vol. 2, New Brunswick, New
Jersey, Rutgers University Press, 2007, no. 709, pg. 54
GEORGE INNESS
(American 1825-1894)
Lake Nemi, 1874
Oil on canvas
20 ¼ x 30 ½ inches
Signed and dated G. Inness 1874 lower right
Provenance:
Possibly Doll and Richards, Boston, 1876, no. 5 (incorrectly titled as Lake Nemi,
from Tivoli)
Mr. Hugh McBirney Johnston
By descent to the Hugh Johnston Hubbard Trust, Lake Forest, Illinois
Note:
This work is accompanied by a letter of authenticity from the Inness authority, Mr.
Michael Quick, dated July 10, 2008. A detailed compositional study is included in
the catalogue raisonné at no. 470 and is in the collection of the Museum of Fine
Arts, Boston.
GEORGE INNESS
(American 1825-1894)
Late Afternoon, circa 1882-86
Oil on canvas, laid down on millboard
14 7/8 x 12 1/8 inches
Signed G. Inness lower right
Provenance:
Thomas McGuiness, Philadelphia
Sale: John Fell O’Brien, Auctioneer, Thomas McGuiness of Philadelphia, Waldorf-Astoria, New York, February 5, 1902, no. 27
Emerson McMillin, New York, New York to 1911
M. Knoedler & Co., New York, 1911
Henry Reinhardt Galleries, Chicago, 1911
Edward Burgess Butler, Chicago, 1911
Sale: Sotheby’s New York (estate of the above), June 6, 1997, no. 220, color illustration
Private collection, Pennsylvania, 1999
Debra Force Fine Art, New York, 1999
Private collection, Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, 1999 to the present
Exhibited:
The Lotos Club, New York, Exhibition of Paintings from the Collection of Mr. Emerson McMillin, Mach 29—31, 1902, no. 19
Henry Reinhardt Galleries, Chicago, An Exhibition of Eighteen Pictures by the American Master of Landscape Painting, the late
George Inness, N.A., 1911, no. 13, repro.
New York School of Applied Design for Women, New York, Exhibition of Thirty-Eight Paintings by the Late George Inness, N.A.,
April 6—May 6, 1912, repro. facing p. 6.
Literature:
Elliott Daingerfield, “A Wonderful Collection of Innesses,” Arts and Decoration 1, no. 6 (April 1911); 257, repro.
James William Pattison, “Gift of Eighteen Paintings by George Inness to the Art Institute, Chicago,” Fine Arts Journal
(Chicago) 24 (April 1911): 216, repro.
Elliott Daingerfield, “Inness, Genius of American Art,” The Cosmopolitan 55 (September 1913): 521, repro.
The Index of Twentieth Century Artists 4, no. 3 (December 1936): 361, listed
Ireland, Works of George Inness (1965), no. 205, repro. p. 51
Michael Quick, George Inness: A Catalogue Raisonné, vol. 2, New Brunswick, New Jersey, Rutgers University Press, 2007), 96,
no. 762 (illustrated).
GEORGE INNESS
(American 1825-1894)
Leeds, 1867
Oil on canvas
21 1/8 x 30 1/8 inches
Signed and dated Geo Inness 1867 lower right
Provenance:
Private Collection, Belmont Hills, Massachusetts, by 1932
Vose Galleries, Boston, 1991
Roland Pineault Fine Arts, Holyoke, Massachusetts, 1991
Jordan Volpe Gallery, New York, 1992
Vance Jordan Fine Art, New York
Private Collection, 1998-2017
Literature:
Michael Quick, George Inness: A Catalogue Raisonné, vol. I, New Brunswick, New Jersey, 2007, p. 28081, no. 297, illustrated
GEORGE INNESS
(American 1825-1894)
Monte Lucia, Perugia, 1873
Oil on canvas
13 ¾ x 19 ¾ inches
Signed G. Inness lower right
Dated and titled on original label affixed to stretcher
Provenance:
Estate of the artist
Sale: Fifth Avenue Art Galleries, New York, Executor’s Sale of Paintings by the Late George
Inness, N.A., 12-14 February 1895, lot 86
P. H. McMahon, Brooklyn, New York
William H. Cummings, Brooklyn, New York
Sale: Anderson Galleries, New York, William H. Cummings Estate Sale, April 29, 1921, lot 68
Albert R. Jones, Kansas City, Missouri
By descent to the daughter of the above, Virginia Jones Mullin
The Estate of Ralph E. Mullin (husband of the above)
Exhibited:
New York, American Fine Arts Society, Exhibition of the Paintings Left by the Late George
Inness, December 27, 1894, p. 42, no. 161
Kansas City, Missouri, The Nelson Gallery and Atkins Museum, George Inness (1825-1894);
An Exhibition of Paintings from the Collection and in Memory of Mr. and Mrs. Albert R. Jones, 1958, no. 6
Literature:
Montezuma, “The Inness Paintings,” The Art Amateur 32, no. 3 ( February 1895): 77
Ross E. Taggart, “George Inness,” The Nelson Gallery and Atkins Museum Bulletin 1, no. 2
(December 1958): 20, listed as Perugia and the Valley
Leroy Ireland, The Works of George Inness: An Illustrated Catalogue Raisonné, Austin, Texas,
1965, p. 155-156, no. 636, illustrated
Michael Quick, George Inness: A Catalogue Raisonné, vol. I, New Brunswick, New Jersey, 2007,
p. 446-447, no. 492, illustrated p. 18
GEORGE INNESS
(American 1825-1894)
Pastoral Scene, 1866
Oil on artist’s board
9 ⅞ x 12 ⅞ inches
Signed and dated G. Inness 1866 lower left
Provenance:
The artist
Given from the above as a wedding gift to Roswell Hawkes Lamson and his
wife, Catherine Buckingham Lamson, 1867By descent to their daughter, Helen Lamson Renaud, 1949
By direct descent in the family, until 2007
Literature:
Quick, Michael, George Inness: A Catalogue Raisonné, Volume One, New Brunswick, New Jersey: Rutgers
University Press, 2007, no. 259, page 258.
GEORGE INNESS
(American 1825-1894)
Pompton Junction, 1877
Oil on board
12 x 18 inches
Signed G. Inness lower right
Titled on two original labels affixed to the reverse
Provenance:
Estate of the artist
Sale: Fifth Avenue Gallery, New York, Inness Executor’s Sale, February 12
14, 1895, lot 139
W. A. White, Boston, Massachusetts
John Levy Galleries, New York
Mr. and Mrs. Albert R. Jones, Kansas City, Missouri
By descent to the present owner
Exhibited:
New York, American Fine Arts Society, Exhibition of Paintings Left by the Late George
Inness, December 1894, no.14
Kansas City, Missouri, The Nelson Gallery and Atkins Museum, George Inness
(1825-1894): An Exhibition of Paintings from the Collection and in Memory of Mr. and Mrs. Albert R. Jones, 1958, as Green Countryside with Train Track (Prompton Junction), no. 20
Literature:
LeRoy Ireland, The Works of George Inness: An Illustrated Catalogue Raisonné, Austin,
Texas, 1965, no. 800, p. 198, illustrated
Kenneth Wesley Maddox, Intruder into Eden: The Train in Nineteenth-Century
American Landscape ([1999] 2000), p. 368, fig. 156
Michael Quick, George Inness: A Catalogue Raisonné, vol. 1, New Brunswick, New
Jersey: Rutgers University Press, 2007, no. 606, p. 523.
Ross E. Taggart, George Inness (1825-2894): An Exhibition of paintings from the collection
in memory of Mr. and Mrs. Albert R. Jones, The Nelson Gallery and Atkins Museum Bulletin 1, December 1958, as Green Countryside with Train Track (Prompton Junction), no. 20
GEORGE INNESS
(American 1825-1894)
Porto d’Anzio, Italy, circa 1872-73
Oil on panel
9 5/8 x 13 inches
Signed G. Inness lower left
Provenance:
Possibly Elizabeth Hart Inness, widow of the artist
Fifth Avenue Art Galleries, Mrs. George Inness Executor’s sale, February 11-13, 1904, no. 40
Mrs. Jonathan Scott Hartley (Helen Inness Hartley), daughter of the artist, New York, until 1919
Knoedler & Co., New York, 1919
W.C. Findlay, Kansas City, Missouri, 1919
Harry W. Jones, Kansas City, Missouri, until 1920
Private collection
Exhibited:
Chicago and Kansas City, Findlay Galleries, George Inness, N.A., 1936, no.8
New York, Findlay Galleries, Exhibition of Paintings by George Inness and other Important Americans,
1940, no. 9
Tuscon, Arizona, Tuscon Art Center, George Inness, 1965-66, listed as lent by David B. Findlay
Galleries, New York
New York, David Findlay Jr., Inc., George Inness, 1825-1894, 1984
Literature:
Ireland, Works of George Inness, 1965, no. 556, listed pg. 134, reproduced pg. 134
Michael Quick, George Inness: A Catalogue Raisonné, Vol. 2, New Brunswick, New Jersey, Rutgers
University Press, 2007, no. 417, pg. 394-95
GEORGE INNESS
(American 1825-1894)
Scene in New Jersey, circa 1868
Oil on paper laid down on canvas
7 1/8 x 9 1/4 inches
Possible partial signature lower right
Provenance:
The collection of Lee B. Anderson, until 2012
Exhibited:
New London, CT, Lyman Allyn Museum, American Romantic Paintings of the 18th and 19th Centuries from the Collection of Lee B. Anderson, 26 February – 26 March 1961, no. 46.
Note:
This work is accompanied by a letter of authenticity from Michael Quick. He will be including this work in the
supplement to the catalogue raisonné.
GEORGE INNESS
(American 1825-1894)
Summer, Montclair, 1887
Oil on canvas
38 x 28 ½ inches
Signed and dated G. Inness 1887 lower right
Provenance:
Mr. and Mrs. John J. Albright, Buffalo, New York, by 1907
George Bates Harrington, Chicago, Illinois, 1925-1960
By descent to Miss Mary Bates Harrington, Chicago, Illinois, until 1960
Estate of the above
Sold by the above at Christie’s, New York, 25 May 2000, lot 43
Acquired by Edgar M. Bronfman, 2000-2013
Estate of Edgar M. Bronfman, 2013-2016
Exhibited:
Buffalo, New York, Buffalo Fine Arts Academy, Albright Art Gallery, Loan Collection of Paintings Owned by Citizens of Buffalo,
October 10-24, 1907, no. 75, illustrated.
Buffalo, New York, Buffalo Fine Arts Academy, Albright Art Gallery, Seventh Annual Exhibition of Selected Paintings by
American Artists, May 21-September 2, 1912, pp. 23, 39, no. 79, illustrated.
St. Louis, Missouri, City Art Museum, Seventh Annual Exhibition of Selected Paintings by American Artists, September 1912, p.
48, no. 62 (as Summer).
Buffalo, New York, Buffalo Fine Arts Academy, Albright Art Gallery, Paintings by the Late George Inness Owned by
Buffalonians, December 14, 1918-March 1919.
Buffalo, New York, Buffalo Fine Arts Academy, Albright Art Gallery, Exhibition of Paintings and Tapestries Collected by Mr. and
Mrs. John J. Albright, June 2-September 6, 1921, pp. 5, 15, no. 1, illustrated.
Buffalo, New York, Buffalo Fine Arts Academy, Albright Art Gallery, George Inness Centennial Exhibition, 1825-1925, October
30-November 30, 1925, no. 34.
Chicago, Illinois, Terra Museum of American Art, by 1995-2000, on loan.
Literature:
“The Loan Collection of Paintings Owned by Citizens of Buffalo,” Academy Notes, vol. 3, no. 6, Buffalo, New York, November
1907, p. 97, illustrated
“Paintings by the Late George Inness Owned by Buffalonians, on Exhibition at the Albright Art Gallery,” Academy Notes, vol.
14, no. 2, Buffalo, New York, April-June 1919, pp. 42-43, illustrated
The International Studio, vol. 74, no. 296, November 1921, p. 3
The Buffalo Arts Journal, vol. 7, no. 8, November 1925, p. 9, illustrated
L. Ireland, Works of George Inness, Austin, Texas, 1965, p. 312, no. 1246, illustrated
M. Possley, “Greek Fugitive Charged in the Case of the Purloined Paintings,” Chicago Tribune, February 17, 1988
M. Quick, George Inness: A Catalogue Raisonné, vol. 2, New Brunswick, New Jersey, 2007, pp. 212-14, no. 914, pl. 189, illustrated