George Inness’ steam in the Mountains (Courtesy of Dallas Museum of Art)

For 80 years, the Dallas Museum of Art (DMA) has been holding on to a rare George Inness painting, unaware that it was famous American landscaper’s work.

For years, the painting, titled In the Woods, was unsigned and believed to be the work of Asher B. Durand.

Sue Canterbury, the Pauline Gill Sullivan associate curator of AmericanaArt, viewed the painting in the Museum’s art storage area and was intrigued by its strong composition and competent execution as well as by the questions surrounding its authorship.

Canterbury’s suspicion of Inness’ work was confirmed when the curator discovered an Inness drawing from Princeton University that contained the basis of DMA’s holding.

Upon discovery, the painting’s title changed from In the Woods to Stream in the Mountains.

“The confirmation that Stream in the Mountains is by the influential American landscape painter George Inness is a major discovery, and this exciting moment underscores the museum’s focus on curatorial research in support of our mission,” Maxwell L. Anderson, the Eugene McDermott director of the Dallas Museum of Art said. “This magnificent early work by Inness joins four additional paintings in the DMA’s collection that stem from the artist’s late career and, thus, will allow us to present visitors with a fuller understanding of the stylistic development of this superb American painter.”

The painting is currently showcased at the DMA on level 4, alongside Durand’s Wooded Landscape.