Tonalism

Introduction

Left: Charles Warren Eaton

Sunset Pines, ca. 1910

The information on these pages is adapted from 'A History of American Tonalism' by David Adams Cleveland.

He argues that the stylistic characteristics of Tonalism include twelve visual components or visual emotions:

Introduction

These twelve characteristics of American Tonalism often work together instead of separately.

In one painting, you can see the artist's choices in technique and style balancing the emotional emphasis.

There is some blending and overlap of these characteristics, just like colours blending in a piece of art.

However, it's helpful to separate and understand these different technical and stylistic aspects because it helps us understand the development of Tonalism and the choices made by artists.

Other pages to look at

1) Subtle colour tones made up of various greens, purples, blues, and greys that are calming and easy on the eyes;

2) Aesthetic Tonalism and Expressive Tonalism;

3) Emphasis on Symbolic Form;

4) Depiction of atmosphere (the unseen air);

5) Sense of movement or change in nature (the vibration and refraction of tones);

6) Expressive paint handling to convey emotion or imitate the felt-life of nature;

7) Formal strategies of embedded patterns and the decorative use of natural and abstract forms (influenced by Whistler and Asian art), often used alongside multiple renderings of the same subject in different lights and perspectives;

8) Soft-edged forms to enhance the sense of ambiguity and mystery in a place (known as the lost-edge technique in the nineteenth century);

9) Broad, graphic, ultimately abstract interpretation of major forms, eliciting an immediate emotional response to paintings, particularly from a distance;

10) Melancholic poetry of landscape (reflecting the impact of the Civil War);

11) Mystical, organic connection between the viewer and the viewed (drawing from the transcendentalist subjectivity advocated by Emerson and Thoreau);

12) Non-narrative synthetic art: an art focused on the feelings or mood evoked by the arrangement of landscape elements to convey an emotion, rather than a realistic or representational depiction of a specific place.

By listing these characteristics, we can gain a better understanding of how they work together and how individual artists made their own choices.

Exploring these characteristics can also foster an appreciation for the complexity and unique visions of artists, rather than solely relying on digital images of artwork.

Summary of this page

1. Tonalism consists of twelve visual components or emotions.

2. The colour tones used in Tonalism are subtle and restful.

3. There are two types of Tonalism: Aesthetic and Expressive.

4. Symbolic form is emphasised in Tonalism.

5. Tonalism depicts the atmosphere and unseen air.

6. Tonalism portrays movement and metamorphosis in nature.

7. Expressive paint handling is used in Tonalism to embody emotion.

8. Tonalism incorporates formal strategies, patterns, and decorative forms.

9. Soft-edged forms are used in Tonalism to create ambiguity and mystery.

10. Tonalism elicits immediate emotional responses from a distance.

11. Tonalism reflects the trauma of the Civil War.

12. Tonalism is a non-narrative art that focuses on evoking emotion through landscape arrangement.

George Inness

Shawangunk Hills, 1885

Leonard Ochtman

A Silent Morning, 1909

Chauncey Ryder

Road to Francistown, ca. 1910