[Hazy Morning, Montclair, New Jersey; George Inness, 1893]

...with all solid form blurred, corroded, and reduced to a pervasive vaporous substance more metaphysical than physical in nature-"a subtle essence which exists in all things of the material world" that constitutes "an atmosphere about the bald detail of facts,"-could be regarded as a logical development and climax of Inness's lifelong belief in the value of spiritual meaning, emotional expression, and suggestion: "You must suggest to me reality-you can never show me reality." Inness, however, disclaimed poetic vagueness unequivocally: "Poetry is the vision of reality ... [not some] gaseous representation.... What is often called poetry is a mere jingle of rhyme-intellectual dish-water. The poetic quality is not obtained by eschewing any truths of fact or of Nature which can be included in a harmony or real representation." To Inness the poetic representation of reality consisted in the same facts of nature as reality itself: color, distance, air, space, and contrasts of light and dark. (via)