Niagara Falls

Media - 1929.6.67 - SAAM-1929.6.67_1 - 63446
Copied George Inness, Niagara Falls, 1885, oil on wood, 15 7⁄8 x 24 in. (40.2 x 60.9 cm.), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of John Gellatly, 1929.6.67
Free to use

Artwork Details

Title
Niagara Falls
Artist
Date
1885
Location
Dimensions
15 7⁄8 x 24 in. (40.2 x 60.9 cm.)
Markings
lower right in oil: G. Inness - 1885 frame verso upper left and lower right in acrylic: 29.6.67 stretcher upper left in acrylic: 29.6.67
Credit Line
Gift of John Gellatly
Mediums
Mediums Description
oil on wood
Classifications
Keywords
  • Landscape
  • Landscape — waterfall — Niagara Falls
Object Number
1929.6.67
Linked Open Data
https://edan.si.edu/saam/id/object/1929.6.67

Artwork Description

Niagara Falls is one of the most frequently painted and photographed landscapes in the United States. George Inness produced seven oil paintings of the falls during the 1880s and 1890s, more than he made of any other area at that time. By 1895, the area around Niagara Falls had become commercialized with many hotels, souvenir shops, and attractions. Inness wanted to reclaim the natural "terror and awe" of the falls, and so obliterated all evidence of bridges, hotels, and signs in his paintings.

Luce Object Quote
"The true purpose of a painter is simply to reproduce in other minds the impression which a scene has made upon him." George Inness, quoted in Alfred Werner, Inness Landscapes, 1973