The Lackawanna Valley

George Inness painted this quiet view of the Lackawanna Valley in Pennsylvania back in 1855, and though it seems like a gentle countryside scene, it carries a bigger story. A young man reclines in the grass on the left, looking out across the rolling green fields toward a small town in the distance. A steam train curves through the landscape at the center, sending up a soft plume of smoke into the hazy afternoon. Scattered across the foreground are dozens of tree stumps, a subtle sign that the woods were being cut down to clear the way for the new railroad.

The story behind the picture makes it even more interesting. The Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad company hired Inness to show off their expanding business, and they specifically asked him to work in the roundhouse and several trains. Inness apparently complained about all their demands, yet he ended up making something far richer than a company brochure. The painting sits somewhere between admiration and unease, showing both the loveliness of the land and the machines pushing into it without clearly cheering for either side.

Inness worked within the Hudson River School tradition, a circle of American artists famous for their warm, dreamy depictions of nature, and that glowing light drifts gently through this canvas. He would go on to become one of America's most respected landscape painters, and this early work captures him still figuring out his style. The mood stays peaceful and unhurried, even while that little train hints at a country picking up speed.