“Shades of Evening”
For today, a landscape by an American artist…
“Shades of Evening” is a beautiful oil on canvas painting by the American artist, George Inness, from 1877. Inness is commonly known as the Father of American landscape painting. Though associated with both the Hudson River School of Art and Barbizon art styles, Inness falls into a category all of his own. Along with James Whistler, he helped create the Tonalism style, which was a uniquely American style of art.
In this painting, a woman in a white dress is depicted standing along the shore of a body of water. She is waving her handkerchief to three people out in a rowboat in the water. A small white dog is at her feet. A brilliant sky of oranges, yellows, and creams illuminates the background and reflects warmly on the water. Large trees stand vertically on the right side of the canvas, yielding an immensity to the piece.
This painting was made during the middle of Inness’s career, after his trips to Italy and France to study art. In France, he was introduced to the Barbizon art style and fell in love with the moodiness of those landscapes. Inness is credited with bringing the Barbizon style from Europe to the United States. Its influence and artistic ideals are seen in this piece, through the picturesque depicted with an emotional use of color.
“Shades of Evening” is currently in a private collection. In 2018, this painting made the news as there were questionable consignment deals made between an elderly co-owner of the painting and an art gallery.
For more on George Inness, please visit his short biography here.
You can find more artists to learn about here.
