FINE ND 237 i.I58 CORNELL UNIVERSITY LIBRARY FINE ARTS LIBRARY THE me; MORI AL ART GALLERY ROCHESTER, NEW YORK • Exhibitfon of Paintings by GEORGE INNESS, N. A. ALEXANDER H. WYANT, N. A. ' ASTON KNIGHT January Sixth to Tweniy-fifth Nineteen Fourteen THE MEMORIAL ART (JALLERY IS OPEN EVERY DAY FROM 10 A. M. TO 4:30 P. M.. EXCEPTING ON SUNtoAYS AND MONDAYS WHEN* IT IS OPEN FROM 1:30 TO 4:30 P. M. IPREE DAYS: SATURDAYS AND SUNDAYS; OTHER DAYS, ADMISSION IS TWENTY -FIVE CENTS. MANY OF THESE PAINTINGS ARE FOR SALE; FOR PRICES APPLY AT THE DESK Ob! AT THE OFFICE OF THE GALLERY. CORNELL UNIVERSITY UBRARY 3 1924 100 356 264 THE MEMORIAL ART GALLERY DATE DUE GAYLORD PRINTED IN U£A GEORGE INNESS BY GEORGE INNESS, JR. j4^ '*™^ ^ ** ^""■'^ andpowerful Uhe Scmsseau, at times delicate with the Elysian ■^^ sentiment of Coroi, here idyllically rustic like Daubigny, and here full of vehement lament like Dupre. All his pictures are tone-symphonies, broadly painted, deeply harmonized, and in perfect concord; and the history of Art must hold him in honour as one of the most delicate and many-sided landscapists of the century — Gmrge Inness, by Richard Muther, in the History of Modem Painting.' " Volume GEORGE INNESS, N. A., DECEASED ^ ^ "■" T OW much the American art world owes to the late George I — I Inness can never be computed. At a time when men -^ -*- were painting anaemic, emasculated transcripts of nature or rather studio recollections of the great world outside, he had the courage to break away from traditions, to set out on a path he had blazed for himself, and to stand on his own theories, evolved after serious thought, analysis, and experimenting. His life was given to his art as truly as ever anyone consecrated existence to one special study. With him painting was the single animating impetus. His brain, ever active, was occupied day and night with new schemes, fresh theories, and endless plans, and all were to one end— picture making. Mr. Inness was born in Newburg, N. Y., in 1825, and as a youth was apprenticed to an engraver. Never possess- ing much physical strength, he was obliged soon to give up the pro- fession, and occupy himself with that which was less confining. Thus it was he began to paint. A few lessons from Gignoux was all the study he had with a teacher. After that he made his own way, hampered, it should be remembered, by ill-health, poverty, and un- congenial surroundings, for art in America in his youth was not inspiring. At twenty-five he went to Europe, where the "men of 1830" were working in a direction that at oijce appealed to him. The rest is soon told. He saw, as he had never seen before, the possibil- ities of his profession, and he returned to his native land to paint in a manner that at once marked him as an innovator, which, if it pleased the few, did not find instant public favor. But his independ- ence, his belief in himself, and his passionate love of good art carried the day. No man ever cared less for public opinion than did George Inness. The aim of his life was fixed ; his ambition concerned itself only with progress. There was never a thought of the material side, never a lowering of his high standard. Work was his watchword ; honesty to himself his most serious concern, and to the last, a canvas never left his studio if he could help it. He thought always to better it, always to add a little something more. Frequently he would, in repainting, change the whole scheme, and destroy the original work in so doing ; but it mattered little to him so the active mind was dis- lodged of the new scheme. In the early days of his study he gave himself up to a profound application to nature. There was not a tree but he analyzed exhaustively. He made a serious study of the anatomy of nature, and he knew her thoroughly. When this had all been mastered, he gave himself up to expressing his own sentiment before the scene. He went out of doors with the certainty of being able to put down his notions of the time and place unhampered by any technical difficulties, and the results were poems on canvas. It is no exaggeration to say that his work constituted the highest product of landscape art in this country in the present century, and from the beginning his progress was logical, sound, and brilliant. At sixty- nine years of age, just before his death in 1894, he was working in the full power of an unimpaired intellect, with a hand more certain than in his youth, more forceful than in middle age, as enthusiastic as the youngest student. The reason for his success is not difficult to find. In the first place, the man was a genius ; nature had given him a wonderfully active mind. He might have been as great in any other profession as in art, because he brought to all he did so alert a brain and so intelligent a way of working. His views of life, of politics, of the various topics of which men talk, were expressed so tersely, so intelligently, that when he opened his mouth his hearers listened with the closest attention. With singular modesty, he found in the work of the youngest members of his profession that which he could admire and study ; he was ever ready to be criticised, and thankful for sug- gestions if they contained soundness and intelligence. But apprecia- tion of his work was not confined to his own countrymen. At the exhibitions in Europe he was received with great favor ; applause came to him from the greatest of his contemporaries on the other side of the water, and, though pleasant, it neither elated him nor made him vain. To-day his name stands the greatest among the landscape painters of his own land, and among the greatest of the world. His professional brethren have awarded him the foremost position, and high praise of his achievements rarely, if ever, evokes dissent. 'Ex- amples of Mr. Inness's art may be seen in the Metropolitan Museum in New York, the Corcoran Gallery in Washington, the gallery of the Brooklyn Historical Society, the Chicago Art Institute, and the Century and Union League Clubs, New York ; but a clearer idea of his work can be acquired from the study of private collections like those of Thomas B. Clarke, of New York ; James W. Ellsworth and Potter Palmer, of Chicago ; Thomas Wigglesworth and Mrs. S. D. Warren, of Boston ; and Sir W. C. VanHome and R. B. Angus, of Montreal. His bibliography is curiously limited. Aside from news- paper articles, it consists, for the most part, of a report of a conver- sation with the artist, published by George W- Sheldon in Harper's Magazine for February, 1878 ; an article by Charles de Kay, in the Century ; a brief biography by Montgomery Schuyler, in the Forum for November, 1894 ; a study of his life by the author of this article, published in the catalogue of the Inness Exhibition in 1884, and an account of personal characteristics by Mr. Sheldon, published in the Century for February, 1895.'" CATALOG Oil Paintings 1 George Inness's palette and brushes 2 Portrait of George Inness by George Inness, Jr. 3 A Nook in our Village 1849 4 Land of Plenty 1852 5 Mountain Brook . 1859 6 Durham Valley 1869 7 Valley Road 1870 8 Lake Nemi 1872 9 Albano, Italy 1872 10 A Vista, Albano, Italy 1872 11 Perugia and The Valley 1874 12 North Conway, White Mountains 1875 13 Pequonoc River, Pompton 1876 14 Evening Glow 1876 15 Springtime 1886 16 Late Afternoon, October 1886 17 Looking Over the Hudson, Milton 1888 18 Twilight 1889 19 Pool in the Woods 1890 20 Old Mill near Riverhead 1890 21 Early Spring 1892 22 Across the Meadows, Montclair 1893 23 End of an Autumn Day 1893 24 Two Rainbows 1893 25 Autumn in Montclair 1894 26 Woods in Summer 1894 27 Montclair 1894 Water Colors by George Inness; being all the water colors painted by him excepting two or three examples ^ belonging to George Inness, Jr. 28 Near Durham, Conn. 29 Back of the Barn, Milton 30 Trout Stream 31 Early Spring, Montclair 32 Woodland Brook, Hastings 33 The River, Near Medfield 34 Niagara 35 Leeds, Catskills 36 The River Bank 37 Milton on the Hudson 38 Barberini, Italy 39 Perugia, Italy 40 The Brook, Leeds 41 Mountain Road 42 Brook in The Catskills 43 Venice 44 The Orchard 45 Tivoli, Italy 46 The Dolomites, Italy 47 Venice 48 Venice 49 The Lake 50 Tarpon Springs 51 ItaUan Tyrol 52 Near Milton 53 Cadori 54 Tie de Cadori 55 Albano, Italy 56 Old Roman Road, Italy 57 Village in the Tyrol 58 The Stone Pines 59 Old Doorway, Italy 60 Near Tivoli 61 View of the Campagnia 62 The Pond, Milton 63 Lake Nemi 64 Castello, Italy 65 Perugia, Italy 66 Across the Campagnia 67 Sunset PAINTINGS BY ALEXANDER H. WYANT From the George H. Ainslie Collection 68 Hopkins Peak, Keene, N. H. 69 Close of Day 70 October Afternoon 71 Evening 72 Afternoon 73 October, Farmington, Conn. 74 A Vista 75 September 76 The Brook 77 The Storm ^' 'llf^^i^|f|L«*i^ "i %'*^'--' "'•■^.-i'ii » fi ^ . ■** ,««§p?f"**'> ASTON KNIGHT IN HIS STUDIO ASTON KNIGHT ASTON KNIGHT was bom in Paris in 1873 of American parents. He studied the nude in the Julian School under Jules Lefebre and Tony Robert Fleury in Paris, and landscape with his father Ridg^ay Knight the celebrated American artist. Aston Knight's specialty is the painting of water which is to be found in all his pictures. His work in this line has won for him the follow- ing honors. Bronze medal Universal Exhibition, Paris 1900. Honor- able mention Paris Salon 1901. Third class gold medal Paris Salon 1905. Second class gold medal Paris Salon 1906. Hors Concours Paris Salon 1906 and gold medals of honor at Rheims, Cherbourg, Geneva and Nantes. The Toledo Museum of Art owns his picture ' 'Le Torrent' ' and the French government has just purchased " The River Wharf" (Yorkshire) for the Luxembourg Museum in Paris. LANDSCAPES BY ASTON KNIGHT 78 A Normandy Brook, Launay 78b Castle of Richard Coeur de Lion, Les Andelys, Normandy 79 The Windmill, Dordrecht 80 A Torrent in Wales, Capel Curig 81 Rio della Verona, Venice 82 September Evening, Beaumont le Roger 83 A Garden Gate, Venice 84 Moonrise in Venice 85 The Willows, Torcy le Grand, Normandy 86 The Old Harbor, Dordrecht 87 La Risle a Launay, Normandy 88 The Oak Grove, Bolton Abbey, Yorkshire Water Colors 89 An Olive Grove on The Riviera, Cap Ferrat 90 A Gi ay Day on The Riviera, Cap Ferrat 91 Cap Ferrat, Riviera 92 The Valley of Lourdes, Pyrennees