george inness was born in newburgh, new york. he was the fifth of thirteen children born to john william inness, a farmer, and his wife, clarissa baldwin. his family moved to newark, new jersey when he was about five years of age. in 1839 he studied for several months with an itinerant painter, john jesse barker. in his teens, inness worked as a map engraver in new york city. during this time he attracted the attention of french landscape painter régis françois gignoux, with whom he subsequently studied. throughout the mid-1840s he also attended classes at the national academy of design, and studied the work of hudson river school artists thomas cole and asher durand; "if," inness later recalled thinking, "these two can be combined, i will try." he debuted his work at the national academy in 1844.