“George Inness and the Visionary Landscape”

Welcome to Museum Reads, the Newport Art Museum’s Art-Themed book group for adults! Are you looking to learn more about art and artists, or enjoy digging into some of the issues present in our current exhibitions? Then this friendly discussion group is for you. We meet monthly on the third Thursday at 12 noon, in person and virtually. Join us virtually from the office for an invigorating lunch break, or enjoy an hour of inspiration during a wee one’s nap time, or find us in the gallery for in-person conversation.

George Inness and the Visionary Landscape by Adrienne Baxter Bell

George Inness and the Visionary Landscape presents both a concise overview of Inness’s life and work and a focused examination of his philosophical and religious preoccupations. It shows how Inness, inspired by the ideas of the scientist-mystic Emanuel Swedenborg (1688- 1772), devised a new artistic vocabulary to convey his understanding of the personal visionary experience. Moreover, it reveals commonalities between Inness’s prescient work and efforts by the psychologist- philosopher William James (1842-1910) to validate mystical states of mind. It explains for the first time how Inness treated landscape painting as a form of philosophical inquiry that could communicate his holistic belief in the unity of nature and spirit.

Museum Reads is free for Members, and $5 for yet-to-be Members.  

Be sure to register online to receive email updates and Zoom links.
For last minute registrations, please call the front desk for the Zoom link at 401-848-8200.

Adrienne Baxter Bell is an author and professor whose scholarship centers on American art and cultural history from the pre-colonial period to the present, with a focus on the nineteenth century. Her dissertation, “George Inness: Painting Philosophy,” was nominated for the Bancroft Prize in American History at Columbia University.

While studying at Columbia University, she curated “George Inness and the Visionary Landscape,” an exhibition that opened in Fall 2003 at the National Academy of Design and traveled to the San Diego Museum of Art. It was favorably reviewed in more than 60 publications. She has published widely in the field of American cultural studies on such topics as embodiment in American art, the legacy of the Hudson River School in contemporary American landscape painting, and uncovering overlooked artistic relationship between American artists and the Macchiaioli.