This painting shows a green landscape from an elevated viewpoint. In the distance, light blue water meets a pale-yellow sky, and the sun casts a golden glow over the landscape. Closest to us is a shore covered in overlapping greenery and several round trees. There is a small hill on the right, with a small gray structure sitting atop it. At the bottom, two indistinct brown animals graze on a dirt mound. Behind them, another gray building is tucked away behind bushes and trees. Golden clouds drift across the sky.

Lake Albano, Sunset

George Inness

This painting shows a green landscape from an elevated viewpoint. In the distance, light blue water meets a pale-yellow sky, and the sun casts a golden glow over the landscape. Closest to us is a shore covered in overlapping greenery and several round trees. There is a small hill on the right, with a small gray structure sitting atop it. At the bottom, two indistinct brown animals graze on a dirt mound. Behind them, another gray building is tucked away behind bushes and trees. Golden clouds drift across the sky.

Colors in this work

Details

Artist
George Inness
Date
c. 1874
Medium
oil on canvas
Dimensions
overall: 76.5 x 114.4 cm (30 1/8 x 45 1/16 in.) framed: 93.4 x 130.8 x 5.1 cm (36 3/4 x 51 1/2 x 2 in.)
Department
CAB
Holding institution
National Gallery of Art
Image provider
national-gallery-of-art
License
CC0-1.0
Credit
Gift of Alice Dodge in memory of her father, Henry Percival Dodge

Art Genome Taxonomy

8 tags

Subject Matter

  • The title and museum description identify a lake landscape; the image centers water, shoreline, vegetation, and distant terrain.

  • Times of Day Both · 99%

    The title specifies sunset, and the image visibly shows a low glowing sun and warm evening light across the sky and water.

  • Water Both · 98%

    The museum title names Lake Albano, and a substantial body of water is clearly visible across the middle distance.

  • Atmospheric Landscapes Visual · 93%

    The distant water, shoreline, and sky dissolve into soft luminous transitions, creating a pronounced atmospheric effect.

Visual Qualities

  • Earth Tones Visual · 97%

    Olive, moss, deep green, brown, ocher, and muted gold dominate the land and foreground, balanced by subdued blue-gray water and sky.

  • Dark Colors Visual · 92%

    The foreground and right hillside are substantially darker and denser than the illuminated sky and water.

Medium and Techniques

  • Oil Painting Both · 99%

    The museum metadata identifies the work as oil on canvas, and the image visibly presents an applied-paint composition.

Time Periods

  • 19th Century Art Both · 98%

    The museum dates the work circa 1874, placing it within nineteenth-century art.

Source & rights

George Inness. Lake Albano, Sunset. Courtesy National Gallery of Art, Washington.

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