George Inness (1825-1894)

George Inness distinguished himself among the Hudson River School painters with his lifelong pursuit of a more modern aesthetic of landscape painting. Unlike his contemporaries who focused chiefly on creating realistic canvases of nature's vastness, Inness felt that "paintings were not necessarily pictures, and it was the artist's function, even his obligation, by an aesthetic and expressive reorganization, to interpret nature and not merely depict it." (N. Cikovsky, Jr. and M. Quick, George Inness, Los Angeles, California, 1985, p. 19) Particularly evident in his later works, Inness sought to capture the more elusive and spiritual aspects of nature on his canvas through a creative use of atmospheric perspective. Early Morning, Montclair, New Jersey can be seen as a pinnacle of Inness's career-long exploration of emotive color, which he described as 'the soul of a painting.'

Early Morning, Montclair, New Jersey depicts the quiet New Jersey countryside where Inness settled permanently in 1885. Residing full-time in this environment, Inness was able to focus intently on the changing atmospheric conditions of the day and season. In the present work, he explores the familiar rural landscape during the vibrant hour as night changes to day. The lush green foreground with cows grazing and a figure walking in the distance is completely overwhelmed by the saturated palette of glowing orange, yellow, pink and purple in the magnificent sunrise sky. Indeed, a contemporary reviewer exclaimed over this painting’s “most sensational sky, which recalls a tropical sunset more than it does a New Jersey dawn." (The Mail and Express, New York, June 29, 1894) As a result, like in the best of Inness’s landscapes, Early Morning, Montclair, New Jersey transcends its particular provincial location to become an impactful evocation of the colors and wonders of nature.

The present work was previously owned by Thomas J. Watson, the founder of IBM, prominent art collector and namesake of The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s research library.