The Muse of Painting

By 1870, La Farge had moved away from his early realistic manner to a more decorative, academic style of easel painting. "The Muse of Painting" synthesizes the different and somewhat contradictory tendencies found in his work at this time. The landscape represents a site that artist painted frequently, the ridge behind Bishop Berkeley's Rock near his farm outside of Newport, Rhode Island. The figure belongs to the mainstream of nineteenth-century ideal painting, representing an allegory of the art of painting. In an odd twist, La Farge depicted the muse as an artist rather than as the inspiratrice of an artist. Her inspiration is the surrounding landscape of Newport, proving that nature is the true muse of painting. The landscape and overall composition are handled in highly decorative manner, mingling carefully observed details with dreamy, evocative colors.