Tonalism
Encyclopedia
Tonalism was an artistic style that emerged in the 1880s when American art
ists began to paint landscape
forms with an overall tone of colored atmosphere or mist. Between 1880 and 1915, dark, neutral hues such as gray, brown or blue, often dominated compositions by artists associated with the style. During the late 1890s, American art critics began to use the term "tonal" to describe these works. Two of the leading associated painters were George Inness
and James McNeill Whistler
.
Tonalism is sometimes used to describe American landscapes derived from the French Barbizon
style, which emphasized mood and shadow. Tonalism was eventually eclipsed by Impressionism
and European modernism
.
American Art
American Art is the debut album of the band Weatherbox. It was released on May 8, 2007 on Doghouse Records. The album received critical acclaim from several sources including underground music distribution company Smartpunk, who lauded the band's style:...
ists began to paint landscape
Landscape
Landscape comprises the visible features of an area of land, including the physical elements of landforms such as mountains, hills, water bodies such as rivers, lakes, ponds and the sea, living elements of land cover including indigenous vegetation, human elements including different forms of...
forms with an overall tone of colored atmosphere or mist. Between 1880 and 1915, dark, neutral hues such as gray, brown or blue, often dominated compositions by artists associated with the style. During the late 1890s, American art critics began to use the term "tonal" to describe these works. Two of the leading associated painters were George Inness
George Inness
George Inness was an American landscape painter; born in Newburgh, New York; died at Bridge of Allan in Scotland. His work was influenced, in turn, by that of the old masters, the Hudson River school, the Barbizon school, and, finally, by the theology of Emanuel Swedenborg, whose spiritualism...
and James McNeill Whistler
James McNeill Whistler
James Abbott McNeill Whistler was an American-born, British-based artist. Averse to sentimentality and moral allusion in painting, he was a leading proponent of the credo "art for art's sake". His famous signature for his paintings was in the shape of a stylized butterfly possessing a long stinger...
.
Tonalism is sometimes used to describe American landscapes derived from the French Barbizon
Barbizon school
The Barbizon school of painters were part of a movement towards realism in art, which arose in the context of the dominant Romantic Movement of the time. The Barbizon school was active roughly from 1830 through 1870...
style, which emphasized mood and shadow. Tonalism was eventually eclipsed by Impressionism
Impressionism
Impressionism was a 19th-century art movement that originated with a group of Paris-based artists whose independent exhibitions brought them to prominence during the 1870s and 1880s...
and European modernism
Modern art
Modern art includes artistic works produced during the period extending roughly from the 1860s to the 1970s, and denotes the style and philosophy of the art produced during that era. The term is usually associated with art in which the traditions of the past have been thrown aside in a spirit of...
.
Associated artists
- Willis Seaver AdamsWillis Seaver AdamsWillis Seaver Adams was a landscape painter who studied under James Abbott McNeill Whistler. He studied at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Antwerp, Belgium and was part of the Tonalism movement, which took place in the late 19th century....
- Joseph AllworthyJoseph AllworthyJoseph Allworthy was a prominent mid-twentieth century American representational, tonal-realist painter based in Chicago, known for his still life compositions and portraits...
- Edward Mitchell BannisterEdward Mitchell Bannister-Notes:...
- Ralph Albert BlakelockRalph Albert BlakelockRalph Albert Blakelock was a romanticist painter from the United States.-Biography:Ralph Blakelock was born in New York City on October 15, 1847. His father was a successful physician. Blakelock initially set out to follow in his footsteps, and in 1864 began studies at the Free Academy of the...
- Emanuele CavalliEmanuele CavalliEmanuele Cavalli , was an Italian painter belonging to the modern movement of the Scuola romana . He was also a renowned photographer, who experimented with new techniques since the 1930s.-Biography:...
- Jean Charles CazinJean Charles CazinJean Charles Cazin , French landscape painter and ceramicist, son of a well-known doctor, FJ Cazin , was born at Samer, Pas-de-Calais....
- Bruce CraneBruce CraneRobert Bruce Crane was an American painter. He joined the Lyme Art Colony in the early 1900s. His most active period, though, came after 1920, when for more than a decade he did oil sketches of woods, meadows, and hills. He developed into a Tonalist painter under the influence of Jean Charles...
- Leon DaboLeon DaboLeon Dabo was an American tonalist landscape artist best known for his paintings of New York, particularly the Hudson Valley. His paintings were known for their feeling of spaciousness, with large areas of the canvas that had little but land, sea, or clouds...
- Angel De CoraAngel De CoraAngel De Cora Dietz was a Winnebago painter, illustrator, Native American rights advocate, and teacher at Carlisle Indian School. She was the best known Native American artist before World War I.-Background:...
- Charles Melville DeweyCharles Melville DeweyCharles Melville Dewey was an American tonalist painter. He was born in Lowville, N. Y. Confined to his bed from his twelfth to his seventeenth year by a hip disease, he formed the poetic conception of nature which appears in his pictures...
- Thomas DewingThomas DewingThomas Wilmer Dewing was an American painter working at the turn of the 20th century. He was born in Newton Lower Falls, Massachusetts. He studied at the Académie Julian in Paris, and later settled into a studio in New York City...
- Charles Warren EatonCharles Warren EatonCharles Warren Eaton was an American artist best known for his tonalist landscapes. He earned the nickname "the pine tree painter" for his numerous depictions of Eastern White Pine trees....
- Henry FarrerHenry FarrerHenry Farrer was an English-born American artist known for his tonalist watercolor landscapes and etchings.-Life:...
- Percy GrayPercy GrayHenry Percy Gray was an American painter. Gray was born into a San Francisco family endowed with a broad literary and artistic background. He studied under Arthur Frank Mathews at the San Francisco School of Design and later under William Merritt Chase...
- L. Birge Harrison
- George InnessGeorge InnessGeorge Inness was an American landscape painter; born in Newburgh, New York; died at Bridge of Allan in Scotland. His work was influenced, in turn, by that of the old masters, the Hudson River school, the Barbizon school, and, finally, by the theology of Emanuel Swedenborg, whose spiritualism...
- Frederick William Kost
- Xavier MartinezXavier MartinezXavier Timoteo Martínez was a California artist active in the late 19th and early 20th century. He was born in the Mexican city of Guadalajara, Jalisco, and, after becoming a naturalized citizen of the United States, died in Carmel-by-the-Sea, California...
- Arthur Frank MathewsArthur Frank MathewsArthur F. Mathews was an American Tonalist painter who was one of the founders of the American Arts and Crafts Movement. Trained as an architect and artist, he and his wife Lucia Kleinhans Mathews had a significant effect on the evolution of Californian art in the late 19th and early 20th centuries...
- Max MeldrumMax MeldrumDuncan Max Meldrum was a Scottish born Australian painter. He is known as the founder of Australian Tonalism, a representational style of painting, as well as his portrait work, for which he won the Archibald Prize in 1939 and 1940.-Early Life and Training:Meldrum was born in Edinburgh, Scotland,...
- John Francis MurphyJohn Francis MurphyJohn Francis Murphy , American landscape painter.-Biography:He was born at Oswego, New York and first exhibited at the National Academy of Design in 1876, and was made an associate in 1885 and a full academician two years later. He became a member of the Society of American Artists and of the...
- Frank NuderscherFrank NuderscherFrank Bernard Nuderscher was an American illustrator, muralist, and painter of the American Impressionism style. He was called the "dean of St. Louis artists" for his leadership in the Missouri art community....
- Henry Ward RangerHenry Ward RangerHenry Ward Ranger , American artist, was born in western New York State. He became a prominent landscape and marine painter, much of his work being done in the Netherlands, and showing the influence of the modern Dutch school. He became a National Academician , and a member of the American Water...
- Granville RedmondGranville RedmondGranville Redmond was an American landscape painter and exponent of Tonalism and California Impressionism.- Early years :...
- Albert Pinkham RyderAlbert Pinkham RyderAlbert Pinkham Ryder was an American painter best known for his poetic and moody allegorical works and seascapes, as well as his eccentric personality...
- Edward SteichenEdward SteichenEdward J. Steichen was an American photographer, painter, and art gallery and museum curator. He was the most frequently featured photographer in Alfred Stieglitz' groundbreaking magazine Camera Work during its run from 1903 to 1917. Steichen also contributed the logo design and a custom typeface...
- Dwight William TryonDwight William TryonDwight William Tryon was an American landscape painter in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. His work was influenced by James McNeill Whistler, and he is best-known for his landscapes and seascapes painted in a tonalist style.-Biography:Tryon was born in Hartford, Connecticut...
- John Twachtman
- Clark Greenwood Voorhees
- James McNeill WhistlerJames McNeill WhistlerJames Abbott McNeill Whistler was an American-born, British-based artist. Averse to sentimentality and moral allusion in painting, he was a leading proponent of the credo "art for art's sake". His famous signature for his paintings was in the shape of a stylized butterfly possessing a long stinger...
- Alexander Helwig WyantAlexander Helwig WyantAlexander Helwig Wyant, was born January 11, 1836, in Ohio - and he died November 29, 1892 in New York, New York. He was an American landscape painter. Also known as Alexander Wyant, A. H. Wyant, he was active as an artist in Arkville, New York, and Keene Valley, New York among other...
External links
- American Tonalism - Montclair Art MuseumMontclair Art MuseumThe Montclair Art Museum is located in Montclair, in Essex County, New Jersey, United States.-Collection:The Montclair Art Museum is one of the few museums in the United States devoted to American art and Native American art forms. The collection consists of more than 12,000 works...
- Tonalism
- askart.com
- Leon Dabo