The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of September 22, 2023

Approaching Storm from the Alban Hills

1871

George Inness

(American, 1825–1894)

America, 19th century

Oil on canvas

Unframed: 73.8 x 113 cm (29 1/16 x 44 1/2 in.)

Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Ralph M. Coe 1927.396

Location

not on view

Description

Inness began his career executing detailed, realistic landscapes in a style similar to other artists of the Hudson River School. As he developed, his work became increasingly free, mystical, and expansive. Perhaps the most important phase of Inness's career was a sojourn in France and Italy from 1870 to 1874, during which he cast aside the tightness of his early style and executed some of his most beautiful works. This panoramic landscape of a storm approaching the Alban Hills, near Rome, shows Inness at his best. His grasp of the way light fitfully pierces the clouds made every form in the painting mysterious and fascinating, and his skillful handling of color conveys the impression of a vast distance.

Inscriptions

Inscription

signed lower right: [G. Inness] Rome 1871 G. Inness [first signature effaced]

Provenance
Ralph M. Coe, Cleveland (1913-1927).
Citations
The Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art Handbook. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1958. Mentioned and Reproduced: cat. no. 536 archive.org
The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1966. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1966. Reproduced: p. 186 archive.org
The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1969. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1969. Reproduced: p. 186 archive.org
The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1978. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1978. Reproduced: p. 230 archive.org
Exhibition history

Cleveland, Kinney & Levan Building, Cleveland Art Loan Exposition (25 November-17 December 1913), under the auspices of the Cleveland School of Art, cat. no. 81A as Italian Landscape.

Buffalo, Buffalo Fine Arts Gallery, George Inness Centennial Exhibition, (30 October-13 November 1925), cat. no. 17 as The Alban Hills.

Cleveland, The Cleveland Museum of Art, An Exhibition of American Painting from 1860 Until Today at The Cleveland Museum of Art (23 June-4 October 1937), cat. no. 98, listed p. 27, not. illus.

Colorado Springs, Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center, French and American Painting of the Nineteenth Century (28 April-1 June 1938), cat. no. 14, not illus.

Akron, Akron Art Institute, 40 American Painters: A Survey of American Painting from Colonial to Modern Times, for the Opening of the Institute (December, 1945), cat. no. 11, not illus.

Exhibition of American Painting from 1860 Until Today. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (June 23-October 4, 1937).

The Silver Jubilee Exhibition. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (June 23-September 28, 1941).

35th Anniversary Exhibition. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (June 20-September 30, 1951).

Source URL: https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1927.396