Page:Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography (1892, volume 3).djvu/381

Rh where he served a seven years' apprenticeship, de- voting himself at first to miniature painting, in which he became very proficient. At the age of twenty-one he opened a studio of his own, and soon acquired a high reputation as a portrait- painter. His fame was first estab- lished by a por- trait of Chief- Justice Marshall. He also painted a full-length cab- inet portrait of Bishop William White. Mr. In- man was one of the founders and the first vice- S resident of the ational academy of design in New York city in 1824-’5. In 1832 he removed to Philadelphia, and a few years later, for the sake of a rural life, to Mount Holly, N. J. Thence he returned to New York, yet soon after- ward, on account of failing health, visited Eng- land, having been commissioned by American friends to execute for them portraits of Macaulay, Wordsworth, Chalmers, and Lord Cottenham. He remained a year in that country, where his artistic ability, combined with wit, conversational powers, taste, and learning, found many admirers. Not- withstanding many inducements to remain there, he returned to the United States in 1845, but his sickness returned, and he died soon afterward. He had received the commission to paint one of the panels of the rotunda of the capitol at Wash- ington, and had already outlined his subject on the canvas, representing Daniel Boone in the wilds of Kentucky. His reputation mainly rests on his portraits, which are characteristic, vigorously painted, and rich in color. Among the many per- sons who sat to him were William Wirt, Nicholas Biddle, De Witt Clinton, Horace Binney, Fitz- Greene Halleck, John James Audubon, Martin Van Buren, and William H. Seward. A full-length portrait of William Penn by him hangs in Inde- pendence hall, Philadelphia, and other works in the Boston athenaeum and the New York city hall, but his best portraits are in private houses. He was an exceedingly versatile artist, and exe- cuted numerous genre paintings and landscapes. Among the genre and historical subjects that were treated by him were "The Boyhood of Washing- ton," " Ruins of Brambletye House," " Trout- Fishing," " Waking of Rip Van Winkle," " News- boy," " Scene from the ' Bride of Lammermoor,' " " Sterne's Maria," and " Mumble-the-Peg." Some of his landscapes are " Dismal Swamp," " Birnam Wood," " Rydal Falls, England," and " An Octo- ber Afternoon," which was one of his last works. He produced many portraits in crayon, and was one of the first to learn the art of lithography and introduce that process into the United States about 1828. He was also an elegant and entertaining writer, and contributed articles to the "Knick- erbocker Magazine." — Another brother, John, journalist, b. in Utica, N. Y., in 1805 ; d. in New York, 30 March, 1850, taught in North Carolina in 1823-'5, then spent a year in Europe, and after his return studied law, but did not practise, be- coming editor of the New York " Standard," after- vol. in. — 23 ward of the " Mirror," and then of the " Spirit of the Times." In 1834 he became assistant editor of the " Commercial Advertiser," and, after the death of William L. Stone in 1844, was chief editor of that journal. He was also for some years the editor of the " Columbian Magazine," and a fre- quent contributor to other periodicals. — Henry's son, John O'Brien, artist, b. in New York city, 10 June, 1828, studied art under his father, arid painted portraits in the western states. Subse- quently he settled in New York city, and devoted himself to genre pictures. He also produced grace- ful flower pieces. He went to Europe in 1866, and spent twelve years in Paris and Rome, where his talents found recognition, and then returned to New York. Some of his best works represent Ro- man peasants. Among his paintings are "Sun- ny Thoughts," " View of Assisi," and " Ecoute," exhibited at the Academy. New York, in 1886.

INNESS, George, landscape-painter, b. in New- burg, N. Y., 1 May, 1825. His parents removed to Newark, N. J., where he early learned drawing and the rudiments of oil-painting. He has from his youth been subject to epilepsy, which has in- terfered materially with the consecutive pursuit of his art. When sixteen years old he went to New York to study engraving, but ill health obliged him to return home, where he continued to sketch and paint. When twenty years of age he passed a month in the studio of Regis Gignoux in New York city, which is all the regular instruc- tion he ever had. He then began landscape-paint- ing in New York city, made two visits to Europe, and lived in Florence and Rome for some time. For several years after his return he made his home near Boston, where some of his best pictures were painted. In 1862 he went to reside at Eagleswood, near Perth Amboy, N. J., and a few years later removed to New York city. He was chosen a National academician in 1868. From 1871 to 1875 he again resided in Italy. The art life of Inness is marked by two distinct styles, the first indicating careful finish and conscientious regard for details. The second style, formed with the expanding grasp of the principles of art, shows a richer appreciation of the truths of nature, is broad and vigorous, paying higher regard to masses than to details. The quality of his paintings is very uneven, as he is sometimes careless, and often mars a good work by eccentric and experimental devices. Yet no painter has represented the aspects of nature in the American climate with deeper feeling, a finer sentiment of light and color, or a better command of technical resources. He has been more influenced by the French school of landscape-painting than any other American artist, yet his style is distinct and original. He is a follower of Swedenborg, and many of his paintings have a spiritual or allegorical significance. Among his best pictures are " The Sign of Promise," " Peace and Plentv," " Going out of the Woods," " A Vision of Fa'ith," " The Valley of the Shadow of Death," " The Apocalyptic Vision of the New Jerusalem and River of Life," " A Passing Storm," "Summer Sunshine and Shadow," "Summer Afternoon," "Twilight," "Light Tri- umphant," " Pine Grove," " Barbarini Villa," " Jov after the Storm," " View near Rome," " Washing Day near Perugia," " The Mountain Stream," "Autumn," "Italian Landscape," "Passing Clouds," " The Afterglow," " The Morning Sun, and "Delaware Water-Gap." His "American Sunset " was selected as a representative work of American art for the Paris exposition of 1867. In 1878 he exhibited at the Paris exposition " St.