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In the hazy, vaporous atmosphere of this painting, Inness tried to meld the natural and spiritual worlds.

Inness followed the teachings of the Swedish mystic Emanuel Swedenborg, who theorized that objects in the material world exist in a parallel spiritual realm.

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George Inness

Orange Road, Tarpon Springs, about 1893

oil on canvas

30 x 25 in.

Gift of Mrs. James L. Rose in memory of her mother, Mrs. William A. Smith

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Born in Orange County, New York, near Newburgh on the Hudson, Inness loved the countryside and nature.  During his years of self-training, Inness followed the Hudson River School style of landscape painting, but when he reached thirty he went to Paris which brought him in contact with the work of the French Barbizon painters.  His style changed from the panoramic landscapes of his youth to the “controlled atmospheres” of his mature style.   A deeply religious man, Inness followed the teachings of the Swedish mystic Emanuel Swedenborg, who theorized that objects in the material world have correspondences in a parallel realm of the spirit.  In the latter part of his life, Inness spent much time at Tarpon Springs, where he maintained a winter home, Rose Villa, and a studio, which he spoke of as a “loft.”

In his late paintings, such as Orange Road, Tarpon Springs, painted the year before his death, Inness achieved the melding of the natural and spiritual worlds that he sought.  A stand of three trees seems to limit the composition’s recession into space, enhancing the rich surface texture and the sense of hazy, vaporous atmosphere that is unique to Inness. While no human presence intrudes upon his mystical landscape, the setting is charged with the artist’s reverence for nature.

Reference

Adrienne Baxter Bell. George Inness and the Visionary Landscape, New York: George Braziller Inc., 2007. ISBN: 0807615250

Rachel Ziady DeLue.  George Inness and the Science of Landscape Painting, Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2007. ISBN: 0226142299