George Inness

AKA:

The Father of American Landscape Painting

Birth Name:

George Inness

Birth Date:

May 1, 1825

Birth Place:

Newburgh, New York

Death Date:

August 3, 1894

Place of Death:

Bridge of Allan, Scotland

Age:

Cause of Death:

Heart attack

Cemetery Name:

Rosedale Cemetery

Claim to Fame:

Artists

Often called "the father of American landscape painting", George Inness was a prominent American landscape painter during the late 1800s. Although Inness's style evolved through distinct stages over a prolific career that spanned more than forty years and 1,000 paintings, his works consistently earned acclaim for their powerful, coordinated efforts to elicit depth of mood, atmosphere, and emotion. Neither pure realist nor impressionist, Inness was a transitional figure who intended for his works to combine both the earthly and the ethereal in order to capture the complete essence of a locale. A master of light, color, and shadow, he became noted for creating highly ordered and complex scenes that often juxtaposed hazy or blurred elements with sharp and refined details to evoke an interweaving of both the physical and the spiritual nature of experience.

Fun Facts

Inness died in 1894 at Bridge of Allan in Scotland. According to his son, he was viewing the sunset when he threw up his hands into the air and exclaimed, “My God! oh, how beautiful!”, fell to the ground, and died minutes later.

George Inness’s work has been offered at auction multiple times, with realized prices ranging from $360 to $1,945,000 USD, depending on the size and medium of the artwork. Since 1998 the record price for this artist at auction is $1,945,000 USD for Sunset on the River, sold at Christie’s New York in 2008.

Cemetery Information:

Final Resting Place:

Rosedale Cemetery

408 Orange Road

Montclair, New Jersey, 07042

USA

North America

Map:

Map of Rosedale Cemetery in Montclair, New Jersey

Grave Location:

Plot 25, Lots 47 and 48

Grave Location Description

As you enter the cemetery take the first right and drive a short distance until you see the white “Hartford” mausoleum. Make a sharp left with the Hartford mausoleum on your right and drive up to the intersection and park. Directly across the road from Hartford is George Inness and his wife to the right of the large sarcophagus of his son, George Inness, Jr.