Sunset (Primary Title)
George Inness, American, 1825 - 1894 (Artist)
Inness revisited the composition of Sunset several times in the last years of his life. Here, three figures stand in an open meadow beside an enclosure of grazing sheep. As a woman leads a small child by the hand, a single lamb lifts its head. A traditional emblem for innocence as well as a Christian symbol of Jesus, the lamb alerts us to the painting’s allegorical significance. Bathed in the red light of the setting sun, the area on the far side of the fence can be understood as the spiritual world, inhabited by innocent souls and God—the sun—and separated from the material realm of the woman and child. The painting may reflect the artist’s meditation on his own mortality.
At lower left: G. Inness 1893
James W. and Frances Gibson McGlothlin Collection
Quick 1129; Ireland 1494.
"American Art from the McGlothlin Collection" Virginia Museum of Fine Arts (1 May - 18 July 2010).
"George Inness: Presence of the Unseen; A Centennial Commemoration," The Hudson River Museum of Westchester, Yonkers, NY (1995).
"George Inness: Presence of the Unseen; A Centennial Commemoration," The Hudson River Museum of Westchester, Yonkers, NY (1995).
Some object records are not complete and do not reflect VMFA's full and current knowledge. VMFA makes routine updates as records are reviewed and enhanced.
