Sols Glory, oil on canvas, 20" x 30"; 29" x 39" (with frame), s.l.r. and dated 1921

Although George Jr. studied with Leon Bonnat in Paris, his foremost teacher and mentor was his father, with whom he studied in Rome and in Montclair, New Jersey. Like many sons of famous fathers, George Inness Jr.’s artist life was both a rebellion against and a continuation of his father’s aesthetic ideas. He initially eschewed the mystic tonalist landscapes of George Sr. and became well known as a painter of cattle in the manner of Barbizon animalier, Constant Troyon.

He shared his father’s spiritual inclinations, however, and, as his life progressed, he became increasingly preoccupied with his father’s tonalist aesthetic, painting lush landscapes suffused with a spiritual light. He also painted a number of works on specifically religious subjects. George Jr. went to Paris again upon his father’s death in 1894. He returned to the United States in 1900, wintering in Tarpon Springs, Florida and spending his summers in the art colony at Cragsmoor, New York., where he died in 1926.

Not only did George Inness Jr. continue his father’s aesthetic, but he became one of the major sources of information on George Inness Sr., publishing a biography of his father and compiling an edition of his letters. George Inness Jr. was a member of the Salmagundi Club and the National Academy. He won a gold medal at the 1899 Paris Salon. His work is in the collection of the Oakland Museum, the Metropolitan Museum, the Nelson-Atkins Museum, the Farnsworth Art Museum, the New York State Historical Society, the Crocker Art Museum, the Memorial Art Gallery (Rochester, NY), and many others.