The Conservation of George Inness The Roman Campagna

2019-08-21 13:27:59

by Baumgartner Restoration

895

For this video our subject is a painting by the American Master George Inness This painting was executed during Inness second sojourn to Italy in 1874 and is one of two paintings of similar subject matter This painting was owned by a university and museum before it became available to the public and ultimately the clients At some point perhaps in the mid 1940 s the painting underwent a conservation whereby it was lined with an aluminum interleaf After discussing options with the clients it was decided that this conservation would seek to undo all of that work and return the painting to Inness vision as close as possible This video was shot over the period of about 4 weeks during which the work was executed as necessary This video is not exhaustive does not provide a comprehensive view of the work that was required to conserve the artwork or show some of the steps before during or after the work And as always this video is not meant to be instructional One of the most influential American artists of the nineteenth century Inness was influenced in turn by the Old Masters the Hudson River school the Barbizon school and finally the theology of Emanuel Swedenborg whose spiritualism found vivid expression in the work of Inness s maturity 1879 1894 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 In Inness s words he attempted through his art to demonstrate the reality of the unseen and to connect the visible upon the invisible Within his own lifetime art critics hailed Inness as one of America s greatest artists Often called the father of American landscape painting Inness is best known for his mature works that not only exemplified the Tonalist movement but also displayed an original and uniquely American style