Tonalism

Tonalism

Tonalism was an art movement that appeared in the USA at the end of the 19th century. Paintings that can be attributed to this art movement were created before and after a certain period until today. Art historians argue that it is sometimes impossible to find the edge between Symbolism and Tonalism, Tonalism and Impressionism. The main genres were landscapes, marinas, light story paintings, similar in style. Most masters used oil, boards and canvases (cotton and linen). Some works are similar to the grisaille technique.

Key ideas:

– In the first works of Tonalists, dark tones prevailed – gray, sepia, dark blue and black. These works are similar to symbolism as they have the same symbols (sunrise, the power of tree trunks, and the eternity of the stone).

– The lighter ones are similar to the works of the impressionists, but the main difference is that tonalism has a deeper dramatic mood; in George Inness’s works, trees seem to suffer, knowing some painful secret.

– Tonalists achieved almost abstract physical smoothness; therefore, even having made every effort, we cannot tear off a piece of wave or cloud from the general composition. In paintings of Impressionists, we can see every stroke, every dot; pure colours were often used, as some artists categorically claimed; art historians and artists still disagree with this.

– It is believed that later Tonalism was absorbed in Impressionism. It is important to note that landscapes and marinas were depicted from afar; the central characters of the paintings were air and fog – great use of aerial perspective: the artists seemed to be trying to scoop up the whole world.

– The amazing semantic integrity of the paintings does not allow us to divide certain works into the genres “landscape”, “marina” or “plot-thematic”, although both are present in the same painting; for example, “Summer Landscape” by George Inness (1894) and “Gray silver fog, lifeboat ”by James Whistler (1884).