id: 109239
accession number: 1927.388
share license status: CC0
url: https://clevelandart.org/art/1927.388
updated: 2022-01-13 10:00:55.961000
A Winter Sky, 1866. George Inness (American, 1825-1894). Oil on canvas; framed: 82 x 102 x 11.5 cm (32 5/16 x 40 3/16 x 4 1/2 in.); unframed: 56 x 77.5 cm (22 1/16 x 30 1/2 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, The Charles W. Harkness Gift 1927.388
title: A Winter Sky
title in original language:
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series in original language:
creation date: 1866
creation date earliest: 1866
creation date latest: 1866
current location:
creditline: The Charles W. Harkness Gift
copyright:
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culture: America, 19th century
technique: oil on canvas
department: American Painting and Sculpture
collection: American - Painting
type: Painting
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catalogue raisonne:
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CREATORS
* George Inness (American, 1825-1894) - artist
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measurements: Framed: 82 x 102 x 11.5 cm (32 5/16 x 40 3/16 x 4 1/2 in.); Unframed: 56 x 77.5 cm (22 1/16 x 30 1/2 in.)
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inscriptions:
inscription: signed lower left: Geo Inness 1866
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remark:
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CURRENT EXHIBITIONS
title: Visions of Landscape: East and West
opening date: 1982-02-17T05:00:00
Visions of Landscape: East and West. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer) (February 17-March 21, 1982).
title: George Inness and the Visionary Landscape
opening date: 2003-09-17T00:00:00
George Inness and the Visionary Landscape. National Academy of Design Museum and School of Fine Arts, New York, NY (organizer) (September 17-December 28, 2003); San Diego Museum of Art, San Diego, CA (January 24-April 18, 2004).
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LEGACY EXHIBITIONS
* Leavitt Art Rooms, Hurlbert Sale (New York, 1883), cat. no. 46 as A Winter Sky; this records the 31 May 1883 sale of this painting from the William Henry Hurlbert collection.
Oshkosh, Wisconsin, The Paine Art Center, A Retrospective Exhibition of Paintings by George Inness (2 October-28 October 1962), cat. no. 9 as Winter, Close of Day.
Cambridge, Fogg Art Museum, Harvard University, Luminous Landscape: The American Study of Light, 1860-1875 (18 April-11 May 1966), cat. no. 24, illus. as Winter, Close of Day.
Cleveland, The Cleveland Museum of Art, Visions of Landscape: East and West (17 February-21 March 1982)
New York, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, George Inness (1 April-9 June 1985); traveled to Cleveland, The Cleveland Museum of Art (21 August-6 October 1985); Minneapolis, The Minneapolis Institute of Arts (10 November 1985-12 January 1986); Los Angeles, Los Angeles County Museum of Art (20 February-11 May 1986); Washington, D.C., National Gallery of Art (22 June-7 September 1986), cat. no. 13, pp. 102-103, illus. p. 103.
New York, National Academy of Design, The Art of George Inness: A Visionary Perspective ( 17 September-12 December 2003); traveled to San Diego, San Diego Museum of Art (24 January-18 April 2004); illus. cat. no. 10, p. 81.
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PROVENANCE
William H. Hurlbut (Sale: Leavitt Art Rooms, New York, 31 May 1883, cat. no. 46 as A Winter Sky);
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Charles Harkness, New York (1916)
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fun fact:
digital description:
wall description:
Like other painters of the Hudson River School, Inness began his career painting with a tight, literal approach, but by the 1860s, he had adopted a looser, more passionate style of brushwork. In A Winter Sky, the specific details of nature are difficult to perceive because Inness instead concentrated on depicting the effects of light and atmosphere on the landscape. While the format of expansive sky, low horizon, and setting sun is typical of luminist compositions, this painting is unusual in that it combines a vibrant, glowing sunset with a harsh, bleak landscape. Inness's color choice reinforces this contrast, as the warm pinks and yellows in the sky play off the cool blues of the frozen ground.
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RELATED WORKS
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CITATIONS
"Bequest of Mrs. Charles W. Harkness." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 4, no. 4 (1917): 63.
page number: Mentioned: p. 63
url: http://www.jstor.org/stable/25136090
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IMAGES
web: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1927.388/1927.388_web.jpg
print: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1927.388/1927.388_print.jpg
full: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1927.388/1927.388_full.tif