Ethereal landscape, with diffused light and softly defined forms. Signed lower left, oil on canvas, in restored condition. Provenance: Christie's label verso.Overall size: 24 3/4 x 30 1/2 in. Sight size: 19 x 24 1/4 in. George Inness was a prominent American landscape painter of the nineteenth century who was influenced in turn, by the Old Masters, the Hudson River school, and the Barbizon school.Although Inness's style evolved through distinct stages over a prolific career that spanned more than forty years and 1,000 paintings, his works consistently earned acclaim for their depth of mood, atmosphere, and emotion. Neither pure realist nor impressionist, Inness was a transitional figure who intended for his works to combine both the earthly and the ethereal in order to capture the complete essence of a locale. A master of light, color, and shadow, he became noted for creating highly ordered and complex scenes that often juxtaposed hazy or blurred elements with sharp and refined details to evoke an interweaving of both the physical and the spiritual nature of experience. Inness is best known for his mature works that not only exemplified the Tonalist movement but also displayed an original and uniquely American style.