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On the Delaware River

George Inness

American Art

George Inness's view of the Delaware Rive (near the Kittatinny Ridge of the Appalachian Mountains) includes details like river rafts and a puffing train engine that represent human industry within a natural setting filled with color and light. Inness, a believer in the antislavery cause along with his close friend Henry Ward Beecher, used his most important Civil War-period paintings to convey an optimistic vision in which clearing skies and flourishing landscapes suggested the promise of peace and national prosperity.

MEDIUM Oil on canvas
DATES 1861-1863
DIMENSIONS 28 1/4 × 48 1/16 in. (71.8 × 122 cm) frame: 39 × 59 × 4 in. (99.1 × 149.9 × 10.2 cm)  (show scale)
SIGNATURE Unsigned
COLLECTIONS American Art
ACCESSION NUMBER 13.75
CREDIT LINE Purchased by Special Subscription
MUSEUM LOCATION This item is not on view
CAPTION George Inness (American, 1825-1894). On the Delaware River, 1861-1863. Oil on canvas, 28 1/4 × 48 1/16 in. (71.8 × 122 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Purchased by Special Subscription, 13.75 (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 13.75_PS1.jpg)
IMAGE overall, 13.75_PS1.jpg. Brooklyn Museum photograph, 2005
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