Critical Archive of the Visual and Related Arts
George Inness
American; 19th-century
New York, NY: Metropolitan Museum of Art
53%
Peace and Plenty. 1865. Oil on canvas
This is a somewhat early painting by Inness, from before he'd fully calibrated his impressionistish technique. The painting's large size doesn't do it any favors; all the room things have to breathe takes away much of the urgency of the artist's famous tonal mania. The tones are compelling, sure, especially in the way, for instance, the aureole around that tree at center spreads itself through the sky around it, dappling even the underbellies of the clouds in the far upper corners. But the shadows and hues in the foreground are a little ordinary, and the silhouetted figure cut by those trees is not as severe as it might have been. (Blakelock does darks and earthtones better than this, and his silhouettes always pack more of a punch.) (TFS, 2026)