George Inness

George Inness (1825–1894) was one of America’s finest landscape painters, whose career evolved from early Hudson River School naturalism into a more intimate, atmospheric style that helped shape American Tonalism. Influenced by the French Barbizon school, especially Corot, and guided by Swedenborgian spiritual philosophy, he sought not to reproduce nature literally but to express its underlying harmony, using softened edges, muted palettes, and glowing twilight tones to convey mood and metaphysical presence. His mature works—mist-shrouded fields, quiet pastures, and balanced compositions that seem to hover between dream and observation—reflect a belief that the visible world reveals deeper spiritual truths, making him a bridge between traditional landscape painting and modern emotional expression. Over decades, he painted across the United States and Europe before settling in Montclair, New Jersey, where he continued refining his subtle, poetic approach and mentoring younger artists. Personally thoughtful and philosophical, Inness was devoted to his faith, his family, and his craft; he died in Scotland in 1894 after reportedly pausing to admire a sunset—a fitting end for an artist who saw divinity in the natural world.