Peace and Plenty
George Inness American
Painted toward the end of the Civil War, this large composition was intended as a direct challenge to the grandiose, literal style of the Hudson River School painters, such as Frederic Edwin Church and Albert Bierstadt. As opposed to exotic subject matter and technical accuracy, Inness offered an image of suburban farmland imbued with feeling, which he communicated through enriched pigment and softened brushstrokes. The title, the depiction of a bountiful harvest, and statements by the artist associated with this and other pictures made during the war suggest his faith in Union victory and prosperity.
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