The term Tonalism describes a style of American art beginning in the 1870s focused primarily on depicting landscapes that emphasized tonal values to express mood or poetic feeling. James McNeill Whistler’s work identified the style that used musical terms such as nocturnes in his titles. Just like musical arrangements, Whistler compared paintings to musical compositions by arranging tonal values and colors just like a composer would score a series of related notes. The style, known as "Tonal School," focused on closely related colors that emphasized color, line, and shape and that evoked quiet contemplation and emotion. The palettes were often cool, and the subjects were often scenes with softly brushed color harmonies. The favorite time of day was dawn, early morning, dusk, twilight or evening during late autumn, winter or early spring, all seasons of quiet and often hazy light..
Three different approaches to Tonalism during this time, the Barbizon School, the Aesthetic Movement and Symbolism, addressed atmospheric painterliness and close tonal harmonies.
Tonalism became the precursor of 20th century American abstract art.
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