“Green Landscape,” by George Inness (1825–1894), 1886, oil on canvas. Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Frank Martucci


“George Inness Sketching Outside His Monclair Studio,” by George Inness, Jr. (1853–1926), ca. 1889, oil on canvas board. Collection the Montclair Art Museum, Montclair, NJ

Inness was a visionary artist whose renderings of nature were profoundly personal and inspired by his belief in Swedenborgianism, a philosophy which embraced the connection between the spiritual and material worlds. Inness referred to this spiritual dimension as “the reality of the unseen.” Inness’s considerable contribution to American art at the turn of the century greatly influenced 20th-century art movements, and brought recognition to American artists in their own right as peers of their European counterparts.

“The Valley,” by George Inness (1825-1894), ca. 1873-74, oil, 15 x 26. Collection Judith and William Turner

The first special exhibition to be held in the Montclair Art Museum’s George Inness Gallery (until April 1, 2012), the only space in the world dedicated to the work of George Inness (1825–1894). Often called the “Father of American Landscape Painting,” Inness spent the last nine years of his life in Montclair, from 1885 onward, and the town of Montclair was frequently the subject of his art. This exhibition brings together ten works from mostly private collections in the Montclair area. For more information, visit www.montclair-art.com.

“Autumn in Montclair,” by George Inness (1825-1894), oil, 29 x 36 5/8. Collection Mrs. and Mrs. Frank Martucci. Photo: Peter Jacobs
 
“Jerusalem Save! Inness and the Spiritual Landscape” is on view in the Krannert Art Museum in the College of Fine and Applied Arts at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Illinois (through May 13, 2012). It brings together three pieces of a painting Inness recovered from a building after the roof collapsed in 1880. He cut the damaged canvas into three pieces and those eventually made their way into different collections. The Krannert is exhibiting the fragment it owns with the other two pieces for the first time since Inness separated them.  For more information, visit www.kam.illinois.edu/exhibitions/current/Jerusalem.html.