Storm on the Delaware

George Inness

1891

Storm on the Delaware is a revealing example of George Inness’s late style, often associated with American Impressionism, which emphasizes mood and effect over narrative or topographical documentation. In this work, Inness reprises a subject—the atmospheric effects of storms in the Delaware Valley—that he had explored almost thirty years earlier, elevating it to a spiritual realm that is at once familiar and otherworldly. Using a limited, tonal palette, soft focus, and compressed composition, his depiction of the peaceful river scene after a storm is highly personalized. The sky is filled with a tumble of storm clouds that merge with the hills of the background, effectively creating a screen that obscures the landscape beyond. The sturdy rooftop and smoking chimney of the house at the lower right of the placid farm scene hints at the inhabitants of the valley, tucked safely away for the storm. Inness sanded down the surface of the painting, perhaps in preparation for painting over it, though he has clearly signed it twice—once before and once after sanding—suggesting he considered this work finished. He may have preferred the distancing effect of the sanding, which obscures the scene and facilitates the suggestion of a more spiritual or meditative engagement with the landscape. [Exhibition label, 2013]

Artist George Inness (American, 1825–1894)
Title Storm on the Delaware
Date 1891
Medium Oil on canvas
Dimensions unframed | 30 1/8 x 45 3/8 in.
Credit line University purchase, Bixby Fund, 1910
Object number WU 2190

Technique oil painting
Work type painting
Theme Landscape

Real / Radical / Psychological: The Collection on Display
Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum, Washington University in St. Louis, 09/09/2016 - 01/15/2017

American Places: Painting the Landscape in the Nineteenth Century
Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum, Washington University in St. Louis, 09/20/2013 - 01/06/2014

Travel and Tourism in American Culture
Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum, Washington University in St. Louis, 09/01/2005 - 10/21/2005

Beginnings: The Taste of the Founders
Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum, Washington University in St. Louis, 01/21/2000 - 03/19/2000

The Waters of America: 19th-Century American Paintings of Rivers, Streams, Lakes, and Waterfalls
Historic New Orleans Collection (New Orleans, Louisiana), 05/06/1984 - 11/18/1984

Nature and the Figure
Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum, Washington University in St. Louis, 01/09/1983 - 03/06/1983

Parsons Collection
Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum, Washington University in St. Louis, 05/15/1983 - 08/21/1983

The Way We See It: America by Americans 1850–1980
Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum, Washington University in St. Louis, 10/10/1982 - 11/07/1982

Nineteenth Century American Painting
Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum, Washington University in St. Louis, 11/16/1979 - 01/06/1980

George Inness Landscapes: His Signature Years [verify dates]
Oakland Museum of California (Oakland, California), 11/28/1978 - 01/28/1979
Santa Barbara Museum of Art, 02/01/1979 - 04/01/1979

Portraits and Landscapes

Salon de Resserre: Selections of European and American Art of the Nineteenth Century from the Washington University Collections
Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum, Washington University in St. Louis, 02/01/1970 - 03/06/1970

Opening Exhibition of Mark C. Steinberg Memorial Hall
Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum, Washington University in St. Louis, 04/29/1960

George Inness Centennial Exhibition
Buchholz Gallery, Curt Valentin (New York, New York)

An Exhibition of Paintings by George Inness, N.A., and Alexander H. Wyant, N.A.
Saint Louis Art Museum, 02/01/1914

1910
R. C. & V. M. Vose, Boston

Inscription [LL corner of canvas, written in black paint:] G Inness 1891 [written in faded gray paint:] G Inness 1891

Inscription [on verso at UR corner of frame, yellow label with blue printing] [UL corner of label, circular emblem with FA inside] [printed in blue ink:] OLLENDORFF FINE ARTS / FINE ART PACKERS AND SHIPPERS / NEW YORK - SAN FRANCISCO / [LL corner of label, white background] [printed in blue:] Lot No. / [written in black marker:] 78-73 [LR corner of label, white background] [printed in blue:] Piece No. / [written in black marker:] 30

Inscription [on verso at LR corner of frame, engraved into wood:] #1938

Inscription [on verso at LC of frame, engraved into wood:] 19M18 [M is circled] / Carrig-Rohane Shop Inc. / R.Q.N.M.VOSE BOSTON

This artwork record may be incomplete or need refinement. Our staff actively researches the collection and revises records when new information is available. If you have questions or comments about this record, please contact us.