George Inness
Author | : Adrienne Baxter Bell |
Publisher | : National Geographic Books |
Total Pages | : 0 |
Release | : 2006-12-26 |
ISBN-10 | : 9780807615775 |
ISBN-13 | : 0807615773 |
Rating | : 4/5 (75 Downloads) |
Book excerpt: 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.