An impressionist-style watercolor of a large apple tree surrounded by grass.

Old Apple Trees

George Inness (1825-1894)

Date

ca. 1880-1885
Medium

Transparent and opaque watercolor on paper
Dimensions

10 1/16 x 13 in.
Inscriptions

Recto:
l.r. signed in graphite: G.Inness
Verso:
u.c. in graphite: #17 [underlined] \ 18 5/8 x 6 1/4 [crossed out] \ 18 7/8 x 16 3/8 \ 10 3/4 + 16 3/4 [upside down] \ 9 3/4 + 12 3/4 [upside down]
u.l. in graphite: No 7 [crossed out]
l.l. in graphite: 26 [circled]
[removed] printed label: Framed by [in ink] \ M. KNOEDLER & CO. \ 14 EAST 57TH STREET \ NEW YORK \ P [double line in ink] F 60622 [in ink] \ TITLE Old Apple Trees \ Watercolor \ G. Inness [in ink] \ Sale Cat. No. 18. [in ink]
[removed] printed label: CONSIGN. NO. \ 206 [in graphite] \ DATE \ 1/28/27 [in graphite] \ LOT NO. \ REMARKS \ P [in red crayon]
[removed] label, printed and typewritten: ACQUAVELLA GALLERIES, Inc. \ 119 East 57th Street, New York 10022 \ [double line] \ Old Apple Trees [typewritten and underlined] \ by \ GEORGE INNESS \ Watercolor: 13 x 10 inches [typewritten]
[removed] printed label: GEORGE INNESS \ SOLD BY ORDER OF HIS DAUGHTER \ MRS. J. C. HARTLEY \ SALE MARCH, 1927 \ AMERICAN ART ASS'N [surrounded by box]
[removed] printed label: DAVIS & LONG COMPANY \ 746 MADISON AVENUE \ NEW YORK, N. Y. 10021 \ EXHIBITION GEORGE INNESS WATERCOLORS & DRAWINGS [typewritten] \ DATE February 28 - March 25, 1978 [typewritten] \ ARTIST GEORGE INNESS [typewritten] \ TITLE The Old Apple Trees [typewritten and underlined] \ CATALOGUE #26 [typewritten] \ LENDER Private Collection [typewritten]
Credit Line

Amon Carter Museum of American Art, Fort Worth, Texas, Purchase with funds provided by the Council
Accession Number

1991.15
Copyright

Public domain

As a landscape painter, Inness was drawn to the poetic effects of evening sunlight. In Old Apple Trees, fluid strokes of black pigment delineate the apple trees’ gnarled branches. Solid layers of watercolor define the fading gray light of an overcast sky, while touches of opaque white in the foreground suggest the momentary illumination of scattered natural debris. Adding to the atmosphere-laden scene are Inness’s concluding touches of peach along the horizon, which evoke the sunset as it peeks through the foliage in a muted display of colored light.

Inness likely sketched these trees while in Milton, New York, a town located on the Hudson River. During the early 1880s, he left New York City to summer in Milton, maintaining a studio there in an old barn situated in an apple orchard.

—Text taken from the Carter Handbook (2023).

Location: Off view

See more by George Inness

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