George Inness was an influential 19th-century American landscape painter. He is often considered one of the most significant artists of American Luminism and later Tonalism. Inness began his career with detailed landscapes influenced by the Hudson River School, but soon developed a more personal style. His later works are characterized by a softer, atmospheric painting style and an intimate connection between man and nature. Inness saw landscape painting as an expression of spiritual and emotional feelings, which led him to move away from purely realistic depiction.