Luminism (American art style)

Fitz Henry Lane, Lumber Schooners at Evening on Penobscot Bay, 1863, National Gallery of Art

Luminism is a style of American landscape painting of the 1850s to 1870s, characterized by effects of light in a landscape, through the use of aerial perspective and the concealing of visible brushstrokes. Luminist landscapes emphasize tranquility, often depicting calm, reflective water and a soft, hazy sky. Artists who were most central to the development of the luminist style include Fitz Henry Lane, Martin Johnson Heade, Sanford Gifford, and John F. Kensett.[1] Painters with a less clear affiliation include Frederic Edwin Church, Jasper Cropsey, Albert Bierstadt, Worthington Whittredge, Raymond Dabb Yelland, Alfred Thompson Bricher, James Augustus Suydam, and David Johnson.[2] Some precursor artists are George Harvey and Robert Salmon.[3] Joseph Rusling Meeker also worked in the style.[4]

  1. ^ Wilmerding, 108
  2. ^ Wilmerding, 18, 108, 120-121, 134
  3. ^ Wilmerding, 14
  4. ^ Kemp, J.R. (2016). Expressions of Place: The Contemporary Louisiana Landscape. University Press of Mississippi. p. 26. ISBN 978-1-4968-0826-4. Retrieved 2023-06-08.