George Inness reveals his spiritual connection with nature in this painting by his rendering of the luminous moon and starkly illuminated trees. While this work emphasizes unity between land and people, it also reflects the somber mood of a nation recovering from the devastation of the Civil War. Inness introduced the aesthetics of the French Barbizon School to American painting. This style utilized rich, dark colors and a lush handling of paint, as is clearly illustrated in Moonlight in Virginia.
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- Titles Moonlight in Virginia (Proper)@Evening in Virginia (Alternate)@Moonlight Virginia (Alternate)@Moonrise (Alternate)
- Artist George Inness, American, 1825 - 1894
- Medium oil on panel
- Dimensions 20 1/8 × 30 1/8 in. (51.1 × 76.5 cm) frame: 26 1/2 × 36 1/2 × 3 1/2 in. (67.3 × 92.7 × 8.9 cm)
- Credit Line Museum purchase with funds provided by Friends of the Museum through Vulcan Materials, 1977.193
- Work Type painting
- Classification Paintings
- On View
- Signature Signed and dated lower right: G. Inness 1884
- Inscription Verso, top support bar, marker: A9584 [A under a BMA label] Verso, panel, upper right, red chalk: 159 [under a blue chalk ‘X’] Verso, panel, center left, white chalk: 224 Verso, panel, bottom center, graphite: L2769 [circled] Frame, verso, top rail, center left, typed label: American / George Inness (1825-1894) / MOONLIGHT IN VIRGINIA / 1884 / Oil on canvas mounted on panel / Collection of the Birmingham Museum of Art, Museum purchase with / funds donated by Friends of the Museum through Vulcan Materials / 1977.193 Frame, verso, top rail, center, black marker: 9584 Frame, verso, top rail, center, printed sticker: RESERVED / 3-21 [3-21 annotated in black ink] Frame, verso, top rail, right, typed sticker: T.L. 74-88 Frame, verso, top rail, upper right, black ink on sticker: 3-23 Frame, verso, top rail, upper right, red ink on tiny circular sticker: 15 Frame, verso, left rail, bottom left, black marker on red sticker: 11-30-83 Frame, verso, left rail, bottom left, small blue circular sticker Backing board, verso, encapsulated label, typed label: PENSACOLA MUSEUM OF ART / 407 S. JEFFERSON STREET / PENSACOLA, FLORIDA 32501 / The New Nation: Views of American / Scenery from the 18th through the / 20th Century / September 13 – November 1, 1986
- Provenance George Inness (1825-1894), 1884, remained with him until at least December 1884 or possibly until April 1887 [see note 1]. Possibly Benjamin Altman (1840-1913), New York, by November 1886 [see note 2]. George L. Seney (1826-1893), New York, by April 16,1887 [see note 3]; auctioned at his sale Mr. George L. Seney’s Important Collection of Paintings to be Sold by Auction, American Art Association, New York, February 11-13, 1891, lot 224; purchased by J. Raymond as agent of dealer Knoedler & Co., February 1891 [see note 4]; returned to J. Raymond [see note 5]; auctioned at Seney’s posthumous sale Modern Paintings, Water Colors, Etchings, and Engravings belonging to the estate of the late George L. Seney, American Art Association, New York, February 7-9, 1894, lot 30, as “Moonrise”; purchased by Knoedler [see note 6]. Dealer Richard L. Feigen & Co., New York, 1972 [see note 7]. Knoedler, New York, by January 1974 [see note 8]. Dealer Coe Kerr Gallery, New York; purchased by the Birmingham Museum of Art, Alabama, 1977
1. The painting was exhibited in and listed for sale at “Inauguration of New Galleries: Works from the Salon of ‘84” at the American Art Galleries. Artists contributed works to the exhibition and it closed December 10, 1884. An “Evening in Virginia” was loaned to the to the Metropolitan Museum of Art for the exhibition “Loan Collection of Paintings and Sculptures in the West Galleries and the Grand Hall” which opened in November 1886 and closed April 1887. The lender of the painting is not listed but was possibly George Inness.
2. Benjamin Altman loaned an “Evening in Virginia” to the Metropolitan Museum of Art for the exhibition “Loan Collection of Paintings and Sculptures in the West Galleries and the Grand Hall” which opened in November 1886. “Loan Collection of Paintings and Sculptures in the West Galleries and the Grand Hall.” Hand-book No. 6. New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1886. No. 162.
3. George Seney loaned a “Moonlight, Virginia” to the Brooklyn Art Association for the exhibition “Mr. GeorgIe L. Seney’s Collection of Paintings” which opened April 16, 1887. The 2007 Inness catalogue raisonne lists 1977.193 as a possible match to the “Moonlight, Virginia” exhibited at this exhibition. Quick, Michael. George Inness: A Catalogue Raisonne. Vol. 2. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 2007. No. 828.
4. The work is listed as purchased by Knoedler in “Seney Sale is a Success.” New York Herald. February 14, 1891. 10.
The auction house records records “Knoedler Co.” as the buyer: Archives of American Art, Washington, DC, American Art Association Records, 2.2 Sale Ledgers, Paintings, 1885-1898, Box BV35, page 32, lot 224 records “Knoedler” as the buyer. An annotated copy of the sales catalogue at the Archives of American Art, Washington, DC, reads “Phillips” (Miscellaneous Art Exhibition Catalog Collection, Box 1, Folder 6, Item 2). However, Knoedler Commission book 1: Old Inventory, C1-C3129, page 54, no. 498 lists an Inness painting belonging to “J. O. Raymond” for the same price as the sale price provided by the New York Herald. Raymond is likely to have been acting as an agent for Knoedler.
5. Knoedler Commission book 1: Old Inventory, C1-C3129, page 54, no. 498.
6. Knoedler & Co. sale book 7, page 60, no. 30, records “Moonrise” under the heading of “J. C.” or “J. O.”, likely J. O. Raymond. Pencil annotations over the entry read “pd direct to Seney Estate.”
The auction house records lists “Knoedler” as the buyer: Archives of American Art, Washington, DC, American Art Association Records, 2.2 Sale Ledgers, 2.2 Sales Ledgers, Paintings, 1885-1898, BOX BV35, page 32, lot 30.
7. According to Quick, 2007, no. 828.
8. Reproduced in Knoedler advertisement in Burlington Magazine 116, no. 850 (January 1974): xli.