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The Home of the Heron

A herondz silhouette sits amongst the brush in a golden hued forest.
CC0 Public Domain Designation

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  • A herondz silhouette sits amongst the brush in a golden hued forest.

Date:

1893

Artist:

George Inness (American, 1825–1894)

About this artwork

The landscape painter George Inness once explained, “The true purpose of the painter is simply to reproduce in other minds the impression which a scene has made upon him … to awaken an emotion.” Inness sought, particularly in his later years, to record not so much the appearance of nature as its poetry. To achieve this, he limited his subject matter to, in his words, “rivers, streams, the rippling brook, the hillside, the sky, the clouds.” For half a century, the artist captured these moisture-laden subjects in all seasons, during all hours of the day and night. First he made small, quick sketches in the field or wood, and then, in the seclusion of his studio, he used them to create the more than one thousand oils credited to him.

Inness completed The Home of the Heron near the end of his career, after he had finally achieved a degree of comfort and success. The painting is characteristic of his late work, with loosely rendered detail and dim objects that seem bathed in an almost incandescent glow. The picture’s blurred outlines, broad handling, and delicate, subtle tonalities, as well as the solitary presence of the heron, masterfully evoke nature’s stillness and mystery. With more than two dozen canvases by Inness, the Art Institute has one of the most comprehensive collections of the painter’s work.

Status

On View, Gallery 179

Department

Arts of the Americas

Artist

George Inness

Title

The Home of the Heron

Place

Florida (Place depicted)

Date  Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.

1893

Medium

Oil on canvas

Inscriptions

Signed, lower right: "G. Inness 1893"

Dimensions

76.2 × 115.2 cm (30 × 45 in.)

Credit Line

Edward B. Butler Collection

Reference Number

1911.31

IIIF Manifest  The International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) represents a set of open standards that enables rich access to digital media from libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions around the world.

Learn more.

https://api.artic.edu/api/v1/artworks/64724/manifest.json

Extended information about this artwork

Object information is a work in progress and may be updated as new research findings emerge. To help improve this record, please email . Information about image downloads and licensing is available here.

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