''Dismissal of School on an October Afternoon'' was painted by Henry Inman. An elected founding member of the National Academy of Design, Inman was well known in the New York City art scene. Although predominately known for his portrait paintings, Henry Inman was also known for painting genre scenes and literary subjects. Commissioned by James Cozzens, this painting was finished on November 8, 1845, which makes it his last completed painting before his January 1846 death. It is a culmination of his successful career, as it is a blend of

landscape A landscape is the visible features of an area of land, its landforms, and how they integrate with natural or man-made features, often considered in terms of their aesthetic appeal.''New Oxford American Dictionary''. A landscape includes the ...

genre Genre () is any form or type of communication in any mode (written, spoken, digital, artistic, etc.) with socially-agreed-upon conventions developed over time. In popular usage, it normally describes a category of literature, music, or other for ...

, and literary reference.

Painting

This depicts a scene of childhood in mid-1840s

rural America Rural areas in the United States, often referred to as rural America, consists of approximately 97% of the United States' land area. An estimated 60 million people, or one-in-five residents (17.9% of the total U.S. population), live in rural Ame ...

. The sweeping view of the northeastern American landscape coupled with the romantic depiction of an

autumn Autumn, also known as fall in American English and Canadian English, is one of the four temperate seasons on Earth. Outside the tropics, autumn marks the transition from summer to winter, in September ( Northern Hemisphere) or March ( Sou ...

afternoon shows the influence of the

Hudson River School The Hudson River School was a mid-19th century American art movement embodied by a group of landscape painters whose aesthetic vision was influenced by Romanticism. The paintings typically depict the Hudson River Valley and the surrounding area, ...

. Inman alludes to

Washington Irving Washington Irving (April 3, 1783 – November 28, 1859) was an American short-story writer, essayist, biographer, historian, and diplomat of the early 19th century. He is best known for his short stories "Rip Van Winkle" (1819) and " The Legen ...

Legend of Sleepy Hollow A legend is a genre of folklore that consists of a narrative featuring human actions, believed or perceived, both by teller and listeners, to have taken place in human history. Narratives in this genre may demonstrate human values, and possess ...

, which was also set in the

Hudson Valley The Hudson Valley (also known as the Hudson River Valley) comprises the valley of the Hudson River and its adjacent communities in the U.S. state of New York. The region stretches from the Capital District including Albany and Troy south to ...

. Referencing the protagonist in Irving’s story, the painting’s teacher is

Ichabod Crane Ichabod Crane is a fictional character and the protagonist in Washington Irving's short story "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow." Crane is portrayed, in the original work, as well as in most adaptations, as a tall, lanky individual with a scarecro ...

, who is seen in the background at the schoolhouse's door. Scrawled across the doorframe is “I. Crane,” which viewers of the time would have recognized and connected to Irving’s story. In Irving's tale of this schoolteacher, Crane supposedly let the students out early one school day. At the left of the painting, is an African American servant, who in Irving's story, brought Ichabod Crane a note inviting him to attend "a merry-making" which led to an early class dismissal. In Irving's story, the students "bursting forth like a legion of young imps, yelping and racketing about the green in joy at their early emancipation." Perhaps this is why the children in the painting are so ecstatic with their wide grins and playful gestures. Their

lunch pail A lunch box (alt. spelling lunchbox) refers to a hand-held container used to transport food, usually to work or to school. It is commonly made of metal or plastic, is reasonably airtight and often has a handle for carrying. In the United ...

s and some clothing are strewn across the foreground of the painting, creating space for them to play with each other. Contrasting with Irving's tale, Inman creates an idealized scene of childhood, the schoolchildren are simultaneously having fun while appearing to be well-mannered and peaceful. According to art historian

William H. Gerdts William Henry Gerdts Jr. (January 18, 1929 – April 14, 2020) was an American art historian and professor of Art History at the CUNY Graduate Center. Gerdts was the author of over twenty-five books on American art. An expert in American Impressio ...

, Inman was known for his kind portrayals of people; "He made young mothers more radiant, and children more idyllic, and old men more benevolent." With tinges of

romanticism Romanticism (also known as the Romantic movement or Romantic era) was an artistic, literary, musical, and intellectual movement that originated in Europe towards the end of the 18th century, and in most areas was at its peak in the approximate ...

, Inman only portrayed the goodness in his themes, and encouraged other artists of his generation to “free themselves of rancor”. He was recounted as “one of Nature’s gentlemen” by his contemporary artists. A few months before painting ''Dismissal of School on an October Afternoon,'' Inman had recently returned from a year abroad where he had studied his English contemporaries' landscape and genre paintings. Placing the scene in the rustic American countryside with references to Irving's story, Inman's painting is proudly nationalistic through its celebration of the idyllic American landscape. With genre scenes of childhood, Inman hoped to highlight the superiority of a rural childhood to an urban one.

Exhibition history

Less than a month after his death, a memorial exhibition of his work opened on February 10 at the

American Art-Union The American Art-Union (1839–1851) was a subscription-based organization whose goal was to enlighten and educate an American public to a national art, while providing a support system for the viewing and sales of art “executed by artists in th ...

. This exhibition featured 126 of his works, including ''Dismissal of School on an October Afternoon''. In a review of the exhibition, the August 1846 issue of ''The American Whig Review'' remarked, "rarely do we see a landscape so winning as this" one by Inman. Over a century later, the painting was a part of "The Art of Henry Inman" exhibit at the

Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery The National Portrait Gallery is a historic art museum between 7th, 9th, F, and G Streets NW in Washington, D.C., in the United States. Founded in 1962 and opened to the public in 1968, it is part of the Smithsonian Institution. Its collections f ...

from April 2–August 2, 1987. The exhibition featured over 100 works created by Inman and several portraits of him done by his contemporaries. Curated by William Gerdts, it was the first retrospective of his work since his 1846 memorial exhibit. In 1992, this painting was featured in the "An Exhibit of American Painting, 1815–1865: from the M. and M. Karolik Collection at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston."

Related works

''Dismissal from School on an October Afternoon'' was not Inman's only work influenced by Irving. Inman was particularly interested in

Rip van Winkle "Rip Van Winkle" is a short story by the American author Washington Irving, first published in 1819. It follows a Dutch-American villager in colonial America named Rip Van Winkle who meets mysterious Dutchmen, imbibes their liquor and falls aslee ...

. In 1823, ''Rip Van Winkle Awakening from His Long Sleep'' was painted. Several years later Inman painted his ''James Henry Hackett as Rip Van Winkle''. There is also an undated sketch titled ''Rip Van Winkle''. Mr. Hackett, in the Character of Rip Van Winkle - NPG-9600094A 2.jpg, ''Mr. Hackett, in the Character of Rip Van Winkle,'' 1832, oil on canvas, National Portrait Gallery Rip van Winkle.jpg, ''Rip van Winkle,'' Graphite on beige wove paper,

Princeton University Art Museum The Princeton University Art Museum (PUAM) is the Princeton University gallery of art, located in Princeton, New Jersey. With a collecting history that began in 1755, the museum was formally established in 1882, and now houses over 113,000 works o ...

Provenance

James Cozzens commissioned the painting. Ownership soon passed to William P. Jones. Jones wrote about the painting in the November 24, 1845 issue of the New York Evening Gazette. In 1870, art collector and bibliophile

James Lenox James Lenox (August 19, 1800 – February 17, 1880) was an American bibliophile and philanthropist. His collection of paintings and books eventually became known as the Lenox Library and in 1895 became part of the New York Public Library. Early ...

bought the painting. It was displayed in his Lenox Library, and was included in the 1879 edition of the Gallery's Catalogue. Likely a favorite in his collection, the painting was likely displayed through 1892, as it appeared in the 1885 and 1893 catalogues. After Lenox's death, in 1895, the painting, along with the rest of the Lenox Library's art and book collection, was given to help form the

New York Public Library The New York Public Library (NYPL) is a public library system in New York City. With nearly 53 million items and 92 locations, the New York Public Library is the second largest public library in the United States (behind the Library of Congress ...

. The painting was on display at the New York Public Library in 1897 Like many other paintings that once belonged to the Lenox Library, the New York Public Library sold Inman's ''Dismissal of School on an October Afternoon''. The painting was lot no. 192 in the April 14–16, 1943 sale at Parke-Bernet Galleries. Victor David Spark (1898-1991), an art dealer, bought the painting. That same year,

Maxim Karolik Maxim Karolik (November 21, 1893 – December 20, 1963), born in what is now Ukraine, he became a featured tenor for the Imperial Russian Grand Opera (later known as the Petrograd Grand Opera). He toured in Europe as a young man. He left Russia d ...

acquired the painting. A well-known art collector of American art, Karolik and his wife, Martha, bequest the painting to the

Museum of Fine Arts, Boston The Museum of Fine Arts (often abbreviated as MFA Boston or MFA) is an art museum in Boston, Massachusetts. It is the 20th-largest art museum in the world, measured by public gallery area. It contains 8,161 paintings and more than 450,000 works ...

in 1948. Upon request, the Museum of Fine Arts loaned the painting to the

White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. It is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., and has been the residence of every U.S. president since John Adams in 1800. ...

for the duration of

President Jimmy Carter James Earl Carter Jr. (born October 1, 1924) is an American politician who served as the 39th president of the United States from 1977 to 1981. A member of the Democratic Party, he previously served as the 76th governor of Georgia from 19 ...

's term, where it hung in the bedroom of his daughter, Amy."American Art in the White House" ''White House Historical Association''. https://www.whitehousehistory.org/teacher-resources/american-art-in-the-white-house After President Carter's term ended, the painting was returned to the Museum of Fine Arts where it can be seen on display.

References

{{Reflist, 30em Paintings in the collection of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston Art in the White House 1845 paintings Paintings of children