Skip to main content
In Landscape with Sheep, Inness relied upon sharp, white highlights to create a sense of texture in this scene. Though it is a scene of sheep in a field, the real subject Inness is capturing in this work is light. The sunlight burns through the heavy atmosphere of scene, evoking a hot, humid summer day. The daylight plays upon the leaves of the tree, drawing attention to the tree and leading the eye down its trunk to the flock of sheep grazing in the pasture.
Exhibition History(possibly) New York, American Art Galleries, American Art Association, Special Exhibition of Oil Paintings, Works of Mr. George Inness, N.A., 1884, no. 35, p. 6 (titled Landscape)
Provenance(possibly) F. Dwight Ripley
Robert Honeyman, San Juan Capistrano, California
Kennedy Galleries, New York (acquired in 1984)
Coe Kerr Gallery, New York (acquired in 1986)
Private Collection (acquired in 1987)
Thence by descent to the present owner
Sotheby's January 2024
Artist
George Inness
(American, 1825 - 1894)
Landscape With Sheep
Date1858
MediumOil on board
DimensionsSight: 11 5/8 × 15 3/4 in. (29.5 × 40 cm)
Object numberN0008.2024(01)
Credit LineCollection of the Fenimore Art Museum. Gift of the Eugene V. and Clare E. Thaw Charitable Trust
Photograph by Richard Walker
Label TextInness came of age during the formation of the Hudson River School, whose artists viewed nature as a manifestation of the divine and strove to represent it as faithfully as possible. Prior to his stylistic shift into tonalism, he worked in a more traditional Hudson River style. He iss considered a transitional figure, which can be seen in his work when comparing scenes, such of this done in the 1850s to his later works in the 1880s. He worked to combine both the earthly and ethereal to capture the complete essence of whatever location he chose to depict. In Landscape with Sheep, Inness relied upon sharp, white highlights to create a sense of texture in this scene. Though it is a scene of sheep in a field, the real subject Inness is capturing in this work is light. The sunlight burns through the heavy atmosphere of scene, evoking a hot, humid summer day. The daylight plays upon the leaves of the tree, drawing attention to the tree and leading the eye down its trunk to the flock of sheep grazing in the pasture.
Exhibition History(possibly) New York, American Art Galleries, American Art Association, Special Exhibition of Oil Paintings, Works of Mr. George Inness, N.A., 1884, no. 35, p. 6 (titled Landscape)
Provenance(possibly) F. Dwight Ripley
Robert Honeyman, San Juan Capistrano, California
Kennedy Galleries, New York (acquired in 1984)
Coe Kerr Gallery, New York (acquired in 1986)
Private Collection (acquired in 1987)
Thence by descent to the present owner
Sotheby's January 2024
On View
On view
