Dictionary
Tonalism

Tonalism refers to a style, which emerged in North American art between 1880 and 1920. Whilst the concept of tonalism refers to a dark-hued style of painting, which rejects strong colour values, the stylistic term Tonalism describes a phase in American painting. Tonalism was characterised by a subdued palate, soft and diffused light, as well as dim, murky contouring and mysterious, calm pictorial moods. Landscape was the most popular subject matter in Tonalist paintings, but figures and interiors also formed part of the genre. Nature’s atmosphere was emphasised through a contemplative romanticism, which sometimes linked Tonalist painters with Symbolism, as exemplified in James McNeill Whistler’s "Nocturnes".
Tonalism distinguished itself from the American Impressionism of the same period, through its restrained colours and increasingly subjective content.
Some Tonalistic works, did however, display aspects of Impressionism, in their lighting and colour, for example. This can be seen in the work of Dwight W. Tryon ("May Morning", 1911). The main exponents of Tonalism included James McNeill Whistler, George Inness, Thomas Wilmer Dewing, Dwight William Tryon, Alexander Helwig Wyant, Henry Ward Ranger and Edward J. Steichen, who became well known as a photographer.