George Inness and the Visionary Landscape

The essential book on the innovative American landscape painter, with a new preface by the author. A “rare, valuable and luminously illustrated monograph.” (Booklist)
This eloquent examination of Inness' most important paintings illuminates the artist’s philosophical and religious preoccupations. It provides an overview of his life and situates Inness within the contexts of key issues in American history, such as the Hudson River School, Transcendentalism, Swedenborgianism, and the work of William James. It explains for the first time how Inness treated landscape painting as a form of philosophical inquiry that could communicate his holistic belief in the unity of nature and spirit. “Bell’s handsomely illustrated, eloquently written, and well-documented text considerably expands previous scholarship. ..[A] first-rate study. Highly recommended.” (Choice) 40 full color illustrations and 19 black and white illustrations

Arts & Photography

Bell, Adrienne Baxter

History & Criticism

George Braziller, Inc.

The American landscape painter George Inness (1825-1894) was one of the most thoughtful and inventive artists of his generation.George Inness and the Visionary Landscape presents both a concise overview of Inness's life and work and a focused examination of his philosophical and religious preoccupations. It shows how Inness, inspired by the ideas of the scientist-mystic Emanuel Swedenborg (1688- 1772), devised a new artistic vocabulary to convey his understanding of the personal visionary experience. Moreover, it reveals commonalities between Inness's prescient work and efforts by the psychologist- philosopher William James (1842-1910) to validate mystical states of mind. It explains for the first time how Inness treated landscape painting as a form of philosophical inquiry that could communicate his holistic belief in the unity of nature and spirit. Full-color and black-and-white reproductions throughout

The essential book on the innovative American landscape painter, with a new preface by the author. A “rare, valuable and luminously illustrated monograph.” (Booklist)This eloquent examination of Inness' most important paintings illuminates the artist’s philosophical and religious preoccupations. It provides an overview of his life and situates Inness within the contexts of key issues in American history, such as the Hudson River School, Transcendentalism, Swedenborgianism, and the work of William James. It explains for the first time how Inness treated landscape painting as a form of philosophical inquiry that could communicate his holistic belief in the unity of nature and spirit. “Bell’s handsomely illustrated, eloquently written, and well-documented text considerably expands previous scholarship. ..[A] first-rate study. Highly recommended.” (Choice)  40 full color illustrations and 19 black and white illustrations

San Diego Museum of Art

INNESS, GEORGE

National Academy of Design (U.S.)

The landscape painter George Inness (1825-1894) was one of the foremost American artists of his generation. Born in Newburgh, New York, Inness studied the works of the old masters and, as a young man, painted in the reigning style of the Hudson River School. Within a few years, however, he found himself more attuned to the gestural, expressive approach of the Barbizon School. He greatly admired the free handling of paint and the expression of soulfulness in the works of Theodore Rousseau. 
Equally important were Inness's philosophical and spiritual concerns. Along with contemporaries Ralph Waldo Emerson, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, and Walt Whitman, Inness studied the writings of the Swedish scientist-turned-mystic Emanuel Swedenborg (1688-1772). During a trip to Italy in the early 1870s, Inness began to structure his landscapes around geometric forms, a development that may have reflected the Swedenborgian idea that the natural world corresponds to the spiritual world and that geometric forms possess spiritual identities. Through these and other compositional devices, Inness created paintings to inspire an almost "religious experience" in his viewers. 
George Inness and the Visionary Landscape includes forty color reproductions of Inness's most important paintings and presents both a chronological overview of Inness's life and a more focused treatment of the artist's main philosophical and religious preoccupations. It suggests resonances between Inness's visionary landscapes and the concurrent efforts, on the part of the psychologist/philosopher William James (1842-1910), to validate the existence of mystical states of mind. It shows Inness to have anticipated many of the most important tenets of modernism, an achievement that continues to inspire contemporary audiences. 40 illustrations in color, 12 in black and white.

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Bell, Adrienne Baxter. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Bell, Adrienne Baxter

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Bell, Adrienne Baxter. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

George Inness and the Visionary Landscape

George Inness and the Visionary Landscape

George Inness and the Visionary Landscape

George Inness and the Visionary Landscape