{"id":3727,"date":"2025-03-10T16:26:01","date_gmt":"2025-03-10T20:26:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.bc.edu\/museum\/?p=3727"},"modified":"2025-03-12T16:53:06","modified_gmt":"2025-03-12T20:53:06","slug":"george-inness-in-the-evening","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.bc.edu\/museum\/george-inness-in-the-evening\/","title":{"rendered":"George Inness In the Evening"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n<style>.kadence-column3727_1fd8d3-e1{max-width:100%;margin-left:auto;margin-right:auto;}.wp-block-kadence-column.kb-section-dir-horizontal:not(.kb-section-md-dir-vertical)>.kt-inside-inner-col>.kadence-column3727_1fd8d3-e1{-webkit-flex:0 1 100%;flex:0 1 100%;max-width:unset;margin-left:unset;margin-right:unset;}.kadence-column3727_1fd8d3-e1 > .kt-inside-inner-col,.kadence-column3727_1fd8d3-e1 > .kt-inside-inner-col:before{border-top-left-radius:0px;border-top-right-radius:0px;border-bottom-right-radius:0px;border-bottom-left-radius:0px;}.kadence-column3727_1fd8d3-e1 > .kt-inside-inner-col{column-gap:var(--global-kb-gap-sm, 1rem);}.kadence-column3727_1fd8d3-e1 > .kt-inside-inner-col{flex-direction:column;}.kadence-column3727_1fd8d3-e1 > .kt-inside-inner-col > .aligncenter{width:100%;}.kadence-column3727_1fd8d3-e1 > .kt-inside-inner-col:before{opacity:0.3;}.kadence-column3727_1fd8d3-e1{position:relative;}@media all and (min-width: 1025px){.wp-block-kadence-column.kb-section-dir-horizontal>.kt-inside-inner-col>.kadence-column3727_1fd8d3-e1{-webkit-flex:0 1 100%;flex:0 1 100%;max-width:unset;margin-left:unset;margin-right:unset;}}@media all and (max-width: 1024px){.kadence-column3727_1fd8d3-e1 > .kt-inside-inner-col{flex-direction:column;justify-content:center;}}@media all and (max-width: 767px){.wp-block-kadence-column.kb-section-sm-dir-vertical:not(.kb-section-sm-dir-horizontal):not(.kb-section-sm-dir-specificity)>.kt-inside-inner-col>.kadence-column3727_1fd8d3-e1{max-width:100%;-webkit-flex:1;flex:1;margin-left:auto;margin-right:auto;}.kadence-column3727_1fd8d3-e1 > .kt-inside-inner-col{flex-direction:column;justify-content:center;}}<\/style>\n<div class=\"wp-block-kadence-column kadence-column3727_1fd8d3-e1 mobile-section\"><div class=\"kt-inside-inner-col\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-28f84493 wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"774\" height=\"114\" src=\"https:\/\/sites.bc.edu\/museum\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/249\/2025\/01\/lynch-logo.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-2922\" srcset=\"https:\/\/sites.bc.edu\/museum\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/249\/2025\/01\/lynch-logo.png 774w, https:\/\/sites.bc.edu\/museum\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/249\/2025\/01\/lynch-logo-300x44.png 300w, https:\/\/sites.bc.edu\/museum\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/249\/2025\/01\/lynch-logo-768x113.png 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 774px) 100vw, 774px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<style>.wp-block-kadence-spacer.kt-block-spacer-3727_e9ebe7-4f .kt-block-spacer{height:60px;}.wp-block-kadence-spacer.kt-block-spacer-3727_e9ebe7-4f .kt-divider{border-top-width:1px;height:1px;border-top-color:#f1f1f1;width:100%;border-top-style:solid;}@media all and (max-width: 767px){.wp-block-kadence-spacer.kt-block-spacer-3727_e9ebe7-4f .kt-divider{width:100%!important;}}<\/style>\n<div class=\"wp-block-kadence-spacer aligncenter kt-block-spacer-3727_e9ebe7-4f\"><div class=\"kt-block-spacer kt-block-spacer-halign-center\"><hr class=\"kt-divider\" \/><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>George Inness (1825\u201394)<br><em>In the Evening<\/em>, 1866<br><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Oil on canvas<br>McMullen Museum of Art, Boston College, Carolyn A. and Peter S. Lynch Collection, 2022.55<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter size-full is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/sites.bc.edu\/museum\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/249\/2025\/03\/inness-evening.jpg\" alt=\"In the Evening\" class=\"wp-image-3728\" style=\"width:1202px;height:auto\" srcset=\"https:\/\/sites.bc.edu\/museum\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/249\/2025\/03\/inness-evening.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/sites.bc.edu\/museum\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/249\/2025\/03\/inness-evening-300x300.jpg 300w, https:\/\/sites.bc.edu\/museum\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/249\/2025\/03\/inness-evening-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/sites.bc.edu\/museum\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/249\/2025\/03\/inness-evening-768x768.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:25px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns is-not-stacked-on-mobile has-background is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-28f84493 wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex\" style=\"background-color:#f1f1f1\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\">\n<p class=\"has-small-font-size\"><strong>Jeffery Howe<\/strong><br>Professor Emeritus, Art History<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image alignright size-full is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"200\" height=\"200\" src=\"https:\/\/sites.bc.edu\/museum\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/249\/2025\/02\/jeffery-howe.jpg\" alt=\"Jeffery Howe\" class=\"wp-image-3273\" style=\"width:78px;height:auto\" srcset=\"https:\/\/sites.bc.edu\/museum\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/249\/2025\/02\/jeffery-howe.jpg 200w, https:\/\/sites.bc.edu\/museum\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/249\/2025\/02\/jeffery-howe-150x150.jpg 150w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 200px) 100vw, 200px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:25px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-28f84493 wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\" style=\"flex-basis:33.33%\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"881\" height=\"555\" src=\"https:\/\/sites.bc.edu\/museum\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/249\/2025\/03\/homer-veteran.jpg\" alt=\"Veteran in a New Field\" class=\"wp-image-3729\" srcset=\"https:\/\/sites.bc.edu\/museum\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/249\/2025\/03\/homer-veteran.jpg 881w, https:\/\/sites.bc.edu\/museum\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/249\/2025\/03\/homer-veteran-300x189.jpg 300w, https:\/\/sites.bc.edu\/museum\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/249\/2025\/03\/homer-veteran-768x484.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 881px) 100vw, 881px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Winslow Homer (1836\u20131910)&nbsp;<em>Veteran in a New Field<\/em>, 1865. Oil on canvas, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\" style=\"flex-basis:66.66%\">\n<p>A major figure in the Hudson River school, Inness was one of many artists and writers influenced by the teachings of Emanuel Swedenborg, the eighteenth-century Swedish mystic. A fundamental principle of Swedenborgianism is that everything in nature corresponds to a spiritual reality. Romantic artists easily extended this mirroring principle to use nature as a vehicle for emotion and symbolic content. Whether realistic or abstract, the artist\u2019s marks on canvas can convey ideas or feelings. The fresh naturalism and broad brushstrokes of this dark and moody landscape also reveal the influence of the French Barbizon school. Seeking simplicity and unity of effect, Inness rejected \u201celaborateness in detail\u201d as it \u201cdid not gain me meaning.\u201d Like James McNeill Whistler, Inness painted from memory to help simplify his forms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This quiet and intimate landscape reflects Inness\u2019s meditative vision of American nature, particularly significant as a restorative in the aftermath of the Civil War. A seated hunter, perhaps a veteran, cradles a gun on his lap in a shadowy glade as he rests at the end of the day. The subtlety of this work contrasts with the more explicit call for peace in Winslow Homer\u2019s&nbsp;<em>Veteran in a New Field<\/em>&nbsp;of 1865 (see photo). Although he was unable to enlist due to poor health, Inness paid soldiers who joined the Union cause in his stead.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:25px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns is-not-stacked-on-mobile has-background is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-28f84493 wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex\" style=\"background-color:#f1f1f1\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\">\n<p class=\"has-small-font-size\"><strong><strong>Oliver Wunsch<\/strong><\/strong><br>Assistant Professor, Art History<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image alignright size-full is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"200\" height=\"200\" src=\"https:\/\/sites.bc.edu\/museum\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/249\/2025\/03\/wunsch.jpg\" alt=\"Oliver Wunsch\" class=\"wp-image-3735\" style=\"width:78px;height:auto\" srcset=\"https:\/\/sites.bc.edu\/museum\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/249\/2025\/03\/wunsch.jpg 200w, https:\/\/sites.bc.edu\/museum\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/249\/2025\/03\/wunsch-150x150.jpg 150w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 200px) 100vw, 200px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:25px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-28f84493 wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\" style=\"flex-basis:33.33%\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"359\" height=\"480\" src=\"https:\/\/sites.bc.edu\/museum\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/249\/2025\/03\/inness-near-delaware-water-gap.jpg\" alt=\"Near the Delaware Water Gap\" class=\"wp-image-3733\" srcset=\"https:\/\/sites.bc.edu\/museum\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/249\/2025\/03\/inness-near-delaware-water-gap.jpg 359w, https:\/\/sites.bc.edu\/museum\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/249\/2025\/03\/inness-near-delaware-water-gap-224x300.jpg 224w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 359px) 100vw, 359px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><em>Near the Delaware Water Gap<\/em>, c. 1866. Oil on canvas, private collection.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\" style=\"flex-basis:66.66%\">\n<p>An otherworldly light suffuses a clearing in a dense wood, where a hunter rests on a log. Without any sky visible in the scene, it is difficult to determine the time of day. The black void on the other side of the stream suggests the darkness of night, yet the trees and grass glow with an eerie vibrancy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Such supernatural effects became increasingly important to Inness\u2019s work in the mid-1860s, when he worked within a small community of artists and writers in Eagleswood, New Jersey. Influenced by the painter William Page (1811\u201385), Inness began to explore Swedenborgian theology, according to which the visible world constituted a veil over the spiritual realm.<sup>1<\/sup>&nbsp;Building on these ideas, Inness sought to move beyond the empirical study of nature, attempting instead to reveal a divine essence that lay outside of ordinary sensory perception.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The cultivated strangeness of this scene becomes especially apparent when we compare it with a smaller preparatory study that Inness produced for it (see image).<sup>2<\/sup>&nbsp;While the study presents a naturalistic representation of a shady wood, the final painting establishes a tension between light and dark that charges the landscape with a paranormal atmosphere.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-ub-divider ub_divider ub-divider-orientation-horizontal\" id=\"ub_divider_2008e545-46fb-47f4-9751-84219e3c075a\"><div class=\"ub_divider_wrapper\" style=\"position: relative; margin-bottom: 2px; width: 100%; height: 2px; \" data-divider-alignment=\"center\"><div class=\"ub_divider_line\" style=\"border-top: 2px solid #ccc; margin-top: 2px; \"><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n<p>1. Michael Quick,&nbsp;<em>George Inness: A Catalogue Raisonn\u00e9<\/em>&nbsp;(New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press, 2007), 1:175\u201376.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>2.&nbsp;<em>Important American Paintings, Drawings and Sculpture<\/em>, Christie\u2019s, New York, Thurs., Dec. 2, 2004, lot 38. Identified as a likely study for&nbsp;<em>In the Evening<\/em>&nbsp;in Quick,&nbsp;<em>George Inness<\/em>, 1:266.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n<style>.wp-block-kadence-spacer.kt-block-spacer-3727_3c95b8-27 .kt-block-spacer{height:60px;}.wp-block-kadence-spacer.kt-block-spacer-3727_3c95b8-27 .kt-divider{border-top-width:1px;height:1px;border-top-color:#f1f1f1;width:100%;border-top-style:solid;}@media all and (max-width: 767px){.wp-block-kadence-spacer.kt-block-spacer-3727_3c95b8-27 .kt-divider{width:100%!important;}}<\/style>\n<div class=\"wp-block-kadence-spacer aligncenter kt-block-spacer-3727_3c95b8-27\"><div class=\"kt-block-spacer kt-block-spacer-halign-center\"><hr class=\"kt-divider\" \/><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter size-large is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"383\" src=\"http:\/\/sites.bc.edu\/museum\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/249\/2025\/01\/mcmullen-logo-gold-1024x383.png\" alt=\"Logo Gold\" class=\"wp-image-2910\" style=\"width:569px;height:auto\" srcset=\"https:\/\/sites.bc.edu\/museum\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/249\/2025\/01\/mcmullen-logo-gold-1024x383.png 1024w, https:\/\/sites.bc.edu\/museum\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/249\/2025\/01\/mcmullen-logo-gold-300x112.png 300w, https:\/\/sites.bc.edu\/museum\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/249\/2025\/01\/mcmullen-logo-gold-768x287.png 768w, https:\/\/sites.bc.edu\/museum\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/249\/2025\/01\/mcmullen-logo-gold.png 1500w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>George Inness (1825\u201394)In the Evening, 1866 Oil on canvasMcMullen Museum of Art, Boston College, Carolyn A. and Peter S. Lynch Collection, 2022.55 Jeffery HoweProfessor Emeritus, Art History A major figure in the Hudson River school, Inness was one of many artists and writers influenced by the teachings of Emanuel Swedenborg, the eighteenth-century Swedish mystic. A [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":140560,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"disabled","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"set","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3727","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"acf":[],"featured_image_src":null,"author_info":{"display_name":"margaret-sandbox","author_link":"https:\/\/sites.bc.edu\/museum\/author\/margaret-sandbox\/"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.bc.edu\/museum\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3727","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.bc.edu\/museum\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.bc.edu\/museum\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bc.edu\/museum\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/140560"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bc.edu\/museum\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3727"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bc.edu\/museum\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3727\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4011,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bc.edu\/museum\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3727\/revisions\/4011"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.bc.edu\/museum\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3727"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bc.edu\/museum\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3727"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bc.edu\/museum\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3727"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}