Autumn Oaks

Autumn Oaks

Autumn Oaks

Artist:
George Inness (American, Newburgh, New York 1825–1894 Bridge of Allan, Scotland)
Date:
ca. 1878
Culture:
American
Medium:
Oil on canvas
Dimensions:
20 3/8 x 30 1/8 in. (54.3 x 76.5 cm)
Classification:
Paintings
Credit Line:
Gift of George I. Seney, 1887

The composition of this picture is splendidly orchestrated, with a striking effect of unity and emphasis that did not exist in Inness's early works. He apparently painted this just after his return from four years abroad. His experience of painting in Italy and France led him away from naturalistic effects with much disparate detail toward coherent arrangements in which a single motif dominates, and everything else is subordinate. Here the sunlit trees dominate the entire landscape, their richness intensified by the deep foreground of shadow and blue violet tones of the lowering sky.

Provenance

George I. Seney, Brooklyn, by 1887; with Samuel Putnam Avery, New York, as agent, 1887

Copyright Image
https://images.metmuseum.org