Tonalism

     An art movement that started in the 1880’s to 1915 when Americans started painting landscapes with a tone of colored atmosphere or mist. Tonalism is a style characterized by the emphasis on the effects of light and shadows on color and detail.

These paintings were usually dark and moody and had an understated color with very soft focus.

Tonalist artists worked with thin, sometimes almost transparent layers of paint, showing very few brush strokes.

These paintings usually used a limited palette of cool or gray colors.

Tonalism cont.

    With the cool and moody colors being most dominate, the skies and both the reflected light and local light can be very warm and romantic, similar to luminist.

The most dominating colors of these paintings were dark, neutral hues of gray, brown and blue; hence where the title tonalism came from, art critics in the late 1890’s would use the word tonal to describe the pieces of work because of the colors. Tonalism has been used to describe American landscapes derived from the French Barbizon style. The most common medians for these paintings was oils and watercolor.

Tonalism Trends

Tonalist artists usually followed one of two trends: 1.

The first was a softer style represented by George Inness and the French Barbizon School. These landscapes sometimes included precise details and broad expanses of the sky which was carefully painted to capture the lighting.

2.

The second; represented by James McNeil Whistler, whose work is sometimes described as Aestheticism-which was heavily influenced by his study of Japanese art that focused on simple compositions and a limited palette, and used a free use of black for drama 

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James McNeill Whistler

    1834-1903 James Abbott McNeill Whistler was born in in 1834 in Lowell, Massachusetts When he was young, Whistler was a emotional boy who showed displays of surliness and impudence, that followed turns of sickness which frequently lapsed into times of laziness. His parents figured out while he was young that sketching would subsided him and help center his attention.

His signature for his paintings was in the shape of a stylized butterfly possessing a long stinger for a tail.

  Paintings: The Ocean 1866-72 , The Falling Rocket 1875

George Inness

    1825-1894 George Inness was an American landscape painterand was born in Newburgh, New York. He died at Bridge of Allan in Scotland.

Most of his work was influenced, the old masters, Swedenborg, Inness' maturity.

the Hudson whose River school, the Barbizon school, and, finally, by the theology of Emanuel spiritualism found vivid expression in the work of He is best known for these mature works that helped define the Tonalist movement.

 Paintings:Golden sunset, landscape sunset, oil paints

WILLIS SEAVER ADAMS

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1844-1921

His paintings reflected the beauty of the Connecticut River Valley scenes as well as his loneliness as a person.

Adams attended Suffield Academy sporadically, aspiring to be a painter, but it is not known where he learned to paint.

Although he had successful exhibits in other cities such as Boston, Chicago and New York, and his paintings brought good prices and critical success, he became discouraged that he was not getting enough recognition, and returned to his old home in Suffield. His style became less academic and he began to paint lonely landscapes he called his "oil miniatures" which formed the basis for all his later work. Paintings: Morning Mists 1918, Train Station 1894, both oils

Percy Gray

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1869-1952

His muted landscapes captured coastal and rural California, evoking a certain romantic charm and quiet introspection. Gray was born in San Francisco to a family with a rich artistic and literary heritage. “The

San Francisco Examiner

critic noted: "Although Gray is a painter realist, he endows his pictures with the eerie charm of romance. He knows how to bring out the misty quality of the air,the mystery of clouds sailing by, the soul of trees and the fragrance of flowers.“” Paintings:

Pastoral Eucalyptus water color, Misty day

Angel De Cora

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1869-1919 Artist, teacher, and Red Progressive.

One of the first American Indian artists to be accepted within the mainstream art world

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she eventually succeeded in establishing the first “Native Indian” art department at Carlisle Indian School.

Paintings: Californian Lake

Kundzhi, Arkhip (1842 1910) - 1881 Night on the Dnieper (Russian Museum)

"The Home of the Heron," by George Inness

1893

Web resources

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http://www.squidoo.com/tonalism http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/tonalism www.tfaoi.com/newsasn/newsa4a.htm

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