Sunny Autumn Day (1892): Art, History and Details

Sunny Autumn Day (1892) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection. The museum's creator attribution is George Inness (American, 1825–1894).

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

Highly prolific, Inness created more than 1,000 works during a career lasting 50 years. Dated just two years before his death, Sunny Autumn Day epitomizes his late style in which the physical landscape is transformed into something akin to a spiritual apparition. Featuring blurred forms and atmospheric effects from translucent colors, this scene reflects Inness’s mystical view of the natural world.

Object facts

• Title: Sunny Autumn Day
• Date: 1892
• Creator attribution: George Inness (American, 1825–1894)
• Culture: America
• Type: Painting
• Technique: oil on canvas
• Dimensions: Framed: 111.4 x 137.5 x 12.1 cm (43 7/8 x 54 1/8 x 4 3/4 in.); Unframed: 81 x 106 cm (31 7/8 x 41 3/4 in.); Former: 101 x 127 x 7.6 cm (39 3/4 x 50 x 3 in.)
• Collection: American - Painting
• Department: American Painting and Sculpture
• Accession number: 1956.578

A detail from the museum

Inness died while viewing a sunset, proclaiming, "Oh, how beautiful!” and falling to the ground.

Collection credit

Anonymous Gift

Further reading listed by the museum

• "Inness masterpiece sold for record price to Cleveland collector," American Art News XXIII (March 28, 1925).
• "Inness masterpiece sold for record price to Cleveland collector," American Art News XXIII (March 28, 1925).
• Macbeth Gallery, and Inness, George, 1825-1894. George Inness, 1825-1894; Centennial Exhibition, January 20-February 9 1925, the Macbeth Gallery. Macbeth Gallery, 1925.

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.