Cows in a Field before 1956

George Inness painted "Cows in a Field," using oil on canvas, and the way he layers color is pretty special. It's all about mood, right? Look at the lower left, Inness uses darker browns and greens in the foreground to make the distant horizon feel even more far away. The paint looks thin, almost like a stain. You can see the canvas texture coming through, especially in the sky. It’s like he’s trying to catch a memory, not just a scene. That tree on the left is awesome. It’s got this big, blobby, leafy shape, but it’s also got these dark lines underneath, pulling us into the picture. It feels like he's nodding to Corot and the Barbizon School, but with an American accent. It's a painting that doesn't shout, it whispers.