It’s no secret that my boss, Linda Wehrli, is a huge fan of landscapes, especially by American painters. When it came time to write the next Art History 101 blog, artist George Inness, who is often referred to as “the father of American landscape painting” was a natural choice.

I must admit, I had not heard of this remarkable landscape painter. Blogging about him was a fantastic way to immerse myself in his story and paintings. I’m so glad to have had this opportunity and look forward to sharing my findings with you. His lovely paintings featured in this blog are courtesy of georgeinness.org.

My first thought was that George Inness might have been an impressionist painter. I was wrong. He lived from 1825 to 1894, just before the Impressionist era had begun.

Inness’ paintings portray beautiful light and atmosphere in a style much different from the landscapes of the impressionists. Biographers describe it best – his landscapes definitely reveal the influence of the Old Masters (Holbein, Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael, Vermeer and Rembrandt, to name a few), the Hudson River school, the Barbizon school, and, surprisingly, the theology of the Christian mystic and spiritual teacher, Emanuel Swedenborg! Inness embraced the idea that mystical experience shapes one’s perspective toward nature. There’s definitely a spiritual feeling to his paintings. More on that later in the blog.
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Linda often remarks to her art students that an artists’ education says a lot about their work. Innes’ art education is quite unique. When he was only 14 years old, he studied for several months with the traveling painter, John Jesse Barker. As a teen, Inness worked as a map engraver in New York City. It was during this time that he caught the attention of French landscape painter Regis Francois Gignoux, with whom he subsequently studied.

Throughout the mid-1840s Inness attended classes at the National Academy of Design, and studied the work of artists Thomas Cole and Asher Durand of the Hudson River School. Inness once stated, “If these two can be combined, I will try.” And that he did! During his studies, Inness opened up his own studio in New York City.