The Home of the Heron

George Inness

Period

1871-1900

Theme

Landscape

Medium

Oil on canvas

Current Location

Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago

The Story

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 . . ” Inness sought, particularly in his later years, to record not so much the appearance of nature as its poetry. ” 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.

Working in Oil on canvas at 76.2 × 115.2 cm (30 × 45 in.), George Inness constructs depth through value contrast rather than outline, letting figures emerge from darkness the way they would under candlelight or through a shuttered window.

Look closely and the painting opens up. Objects you might pass over — a folded letter, a half-drawn curtain, the angle of a glance — were placed to be read. Weather and light are the real subject — the artist is tracking a specific, fleeting atmospheric moment rather than an idealized, generic view.

Today the painting is held by Art Institute of Chicago in Chicago, where it remains a touchstone for understanding George Inness's contribution to Western art. It has been studied, copied, restored, and argued over for centuries — proof that great paintings keep generating new readings long after their creators have gone.

“A silence so complete it becomes its own witness.”

From the museum

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.

Edward B. Butler Collection

Materials & technique

Technique: oil painting, painting (image making).

Inscriptions: Signed, lower right: "G. Inness 1893".

Provenance

Estate of the artist (sale, Fifth Avenue Galleries, New York, February 12-14, 1895, no. 69, as "The Sun's Last Reflection"); E.W. Bass, 1895; Emerson McMillin, New York, to 1911; Knoedler & Co., New York, 1911; Reinhardt Galleries, Chicago, 1911; sold to Edward B. Butler, Chicago, 1911; given to the Art Institute of Chicago, 1911.