George Innes
The Lackawanna Valley
national Gallery Of Art
Washington
This painting can be read on different levels. It can be taken for its own sake as a scene of train in a pleasant landscape. there is a man observing the train if you look closely you can see the tree stumps. these were the result of America's expansion and the need for space. Whole swathes of countryside were deforested.
The history behind this painting is interesting in that the painter painted it for the railroad president as a advertisement At the time there was only one track running into the roundhouse but the president insisted on having four or five painted in , easing his conscience by explaining that the road would eventually have them (Art and illusion by E.H.Gombrich, Phaidon Press London 1977) .Innes protested over this but gave in for the sake of hi family he hid the patch behind puffs of smoke
| Art history traditional and important task of ordering styles and schools of art in ways which can make sense in the historical context. Inness was in a dominant position at this time The painting we are looking at had no public exposure between the time Inness painted it 1855 and the 1890's. when the artist himself came across in in a Mexican curiosity shop (Nineteenth Century American Art by Barbara Groseclose Oxford University Press 2000.) |
The fact of the Mexican curiosity shop was interesting to discover also the knowledge gained of the painting not being in the public domain over 30 years is thought provoking, so there is a point to Art History and knowledge.
No comments:
Post a Comment