George Innes

As I was doing my reading this past while I came upon a painting by George Innes, and being the Art History major that I am, I became enthralled. The painting was entitled, “Sunset in the Woods,” and the light, the color, the resonating sense of spirituality all just fascinated me. I’ve been asked many times who my favorite artist is, and I usually have such a difficult time answering, but something about Innes’s work made me automatically ponder about putting him on my favorite list. Perhaps one reason I was so in awe was the fact that I was getting such a strong sense of spiritualism from a landscape painting. I am not saying that landscapes can be inspiring, for they most definitely can, but this instance was different. It is just a scene in the woods, there’s no physically portrayal beyond trees, grass, leaves, etc. but it feels like there’s something more. There’s something alive, very alive, about this painting. I almost get the sense that something is coming, something very good to say the least, something that would be life changing. Something is coming that could perhaps be an external event, but at the same time, and more likely, could be completely internal as well. In other words Innes is able to portray an imminent change of mindset through a landscape painting.  How this is done I cannot put words to.

            I then went on to read more about Innes, which I hoped would help me understand this new phenomenon I had discovered. Doing so also made this artist more real to me, which is one thing I love about history. Realizing that these people you are reading about are  just like you in so many ways, for to be human creates so many similarities, changes how you view their work. It makes it more applicable to daily life. Anyway, here are some interesting things I discovered about Innes: He was born in New York, and was one of 13 children. His father had hoped to bring him into the family line of work (the grocer scene) but Innes took his own path, that of an artist (I cannot imagine that to be an easy point to sell to ones parents, for my own study of art was not an easy sell to my own parents). He studied as both an engraver and a painter. He was first influenced by the 17^th century Dutch landscape painters, and the Hudson River School, and then later in life he became attracted to the philosophies of Emanuel Swedenborg. Swedenborg’s influence is what primarily led to this spirituality that Innes tried to get across in his work.

Since this is what most fascinated me about Innes’s paintings (their almost tangible sense of spirituality), I looked into what exactly these philosophies of Swedenborg were. In doing this I found a couple quotes from him (Swedenborg) that, in my opinion, really help describe different aspects of Innes’s work: “But by all this I am not deterred, for I have seen, I have heard, I have felt,” and “First of all it must be known who the God of heaven is, since upon that all the other things depend.” This first quote, well for one really made a big impact on me (reminded me to put things into perspective), really resonates in Innes’s Sunset in the Woods. There is this sense really looking at what you are seeing, what is all around you, and then turning that around and doing the same thing with yourself (looking at who you are, what you are doing, and what you have done). This second quote is also very apparent because Innes is taking a sincere step towards seeing the divine in his subject matter. He really seems to be looking first for the spiritual and then for the actual, and at the same time finding the harmony between the two. Overall this was a good experience for me, for I now feel I have a slightly better understanding of a very talented painter, and at the same time feel as if I have been enlightened spiritually. I am excited to continue my study of Innes and enjoy the incite all his work has to offer.