George Inness (1825-1894)

During the 1860s, George Inness concentrated on the marvels of light, as seen in his impressive Light Triumphant. According to G.W. Sheldon, Light Triumphant was painted in Medfield, Massachusetts. He explains, “In 1860 [Inness] was settled in the simple country scenery of Medfield, Massachusetts, where he painted some of his best pictures, among them a landscape now belonging to Mr. Gibson, of Brooklyn, which a distinguished friend named ‘Light Triumphant’...” (American Painters: With Eighty-Three Examples of Their Work Engraved on Wood, New York, 1879, p. 30) “The Medfield period,” notes George Inness, Jr., “lasted from 1859 to 1864. From the point of view of artistic achievements it was of great importance in my father’s life. The ideas which he had absorbed were now beginning to show in his work, and his own individual style was developing. In other words George Inness was beginning to be George Inness.” (Life, Art, and Letters of George Inness, New York, 1917, p. 36)

The title Light Triumphant was given by Henry Ward Beecher, and according to Nicolai Cikovsky, Jr. is “significant not only because it indicates a revived interest in expressive content, but because it suggests that the theme resides in the landscape itself--and in the light particularly--rather than in accessory figures.” (George Inness, New York, 1971, p. 36)

After the National Academy exhibit of 1862, Light Triumphant was discussed more than any of Inness’ previous paintings. As Cikovsky notes, “ …in no painting had the interpretive and expressive aims of his landscape been as clearly perceived or positively received.” (George Inness, New York, 1993, p. 41) Michael Quick describes Light Triumphant as “an ambitious work, apparently epitomizing the chief qualities of the Medfield period, specifically a transforming light effect and expressively bold technique.” (George Inness: A Catalogue Raisonné, vol. 1, New Brunswick, New Jersey, 2007, p. 214)