Art in Focus: John Francis Murphy, Sleepy Hollow, 1885

Our spring 2025 Art in Focus series begins with a piece from the new exhibition Dusk & Dawn: Tonalism in Connecticut! , or online via The Quick Live.

About the Exhibition: This exhibition explores Tonalism in the United States from the 1880s to the early 20th century, through artists from the Northeast such as George Inness, John Henry Twachtman, and John Francis Murphy. Tonalism is a transitional movement that grew out of and reacted to the Hudson River School of painting and laid the groundwork for modernism. Evocative landscapes, evoking a spiritual connection to the natural world, often painted from memory, are the primary genre of this movement. The more than fifty artworks in this exhibition are drawn from private and institutional collections.

Image: John Francis Murphy, Sleepy Hollow, 1885, oil on canvas. Private collection, CT

Host or Publisher Fairfield University Art Museum