Lane may have supplemented his primary, purely experimental practices in drawing and painting with the study of instructional books on drawing, or more likely, by the study of books on the subject of ship design. The Artist: Fitz Henry Lane (1804-1865) By 1850, Gloucester’s Fitz Henry Lane had become Massachusetts premier marine painter whose works were owned by merchants, shipowners and prominent citizens of Coastal New England and New York. Fitz Henry Lane Online is an online catalogue raisonné of all known paintings, drawings, and lithographs by Fitz Henry Lane, listing ownership and exhibition history as well as literature references. The Fitz Henry Lane Cottage is one of the Inn’s three premium Maine cottages and offers incredible proximity to the ocean. As one of the styles of landscape painting to emerge in the nineteenth century, luminism embraced the contemporary preoccupation with nature as a manifestation of God's grand plan. Lane continued to refine his painting style, and consequently, the demand for his marine paintings increased as well. His views of Boston Harbor, Gloucester, and Maine’s coast were eagerly sought. His name at birth was Nathaniel Rogers Lane but, he changed to Fitz Henry Lane so as not to be confused with another artist at the time who had the name of Nathaniel Rogers. Always pleasant and genial with visitors. He grew up along this waterfront, his father a sail maker. At the time when Lane began his employment at Pendleton's, it was common practice for aspiring American artists—especially those who, like Lane, could not afford a more formal education in the arts by traveling to Europe or by attending one of the prestigious American art academies, such as New York's National Academy of Design or Philadelphia's Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts—to seek work as a lithographer, this being the next logical step in their pursuit of a career in the arts. Gloucester, Massachusetts, native Fitz Henry Lane was at the height of his career by 1850, when he executed this grand and tranquil scene of the bustling port of Boston. Fitz Henry Lane, Becalmed Off Halfway Rock, 1860, Oil on Canvas. First, Lane was, even in childhood, clearly gifted in the field of art. Despite its meticulous draftsmanship and precise detail, Lane's work is far more than a simple inventory of harbor activity. 1965/1975. » See Fitz Henry Lane works on view at the Cape Ann Museum. Lane's career would ultimately find him painting harbor and ship portraits, along with the occasional purely pastoral scene, up and down the eastern seaboard of the United States, from as far north as the Penobscot Bay/Mount Desert Island region of Maine, to as far south as San Juan, Puerto Rico. During the 19th century, Fitz Henry Lane became the country's premier maritime artist while capturing the coastal soul of Gloucester with his glorious compositions and technique. . Lane was an … Historical Materials:- "Jamestown" (U.S. Sloop of War) » - Forbes, Robert Bennet », Historical Materials:- Fort (The) and Fort Point » - Low (Frederick G.) wharves » - Maps » - Rogers's (George H.) wharves » - Town / Public Landings » - Waterfront, Gloucester » - Windmill », Historical Materials:- Castine – Stevens Home » - Chronology » - Letters » - Owl's Head » - Rockland Harbor, Maine – Owl's Head Light » - Stevens, Joseph, Sr. and Dorothy Little », Historical Materials:- Fears, Robert » - Newspaper / Journal Articles » - Studio Descriptions », Historical Materials:- Lithography (Sales & Exhibitions) », 1851 Map of the Towns of Gloucester and Rockport (detail showing wharves), Dorothy Little Stevens to F. H. Lane, Castine, 10.16.1851, Subscription List and Mailing for "Castine, From Hospital Island" 1855, The Cape Ann Museum is grateful to the following organizations for their support of. In terms of Lane's influences and relations to the artistic tradition of Luminism, Barbara Novak, in her book "American Painting in the Nineteenth Century", relates Lane's later works to Ralph Waldo Emerson's Transcendentalism (which she relates directly to the emergence of Luminism), claiming that "[Lane] was the most 'transparent eyeball",[5] and that this was evidenced by Lane's balancing of what Novak describes as the "contributions of the primitive and the graphic traditions to his art",[5] the primitive being what he learned on his own by first observing and interacting with the surrounding environment he sought to depict, and the graphic being those skills Lane acquired through working as a lithographer. Fitz Henry Lane (1804–1865) was America’s preeminent marine artist of the mid-19th century, a skilled draftsman, a master of ship’s portraiture, and an unparalleled observer of the world around him. One of the finest examples of this print that the shop has had the pleasure of owning. Fitz Henry Lane was born on December 19 th in 1804. Although the cause cannot be known with certainty, it is thought that the ingestion of some part of the Peru-Apple—a poisonous weed also known as jimsonweed—by Lane at the age of eighteen months caused the paralysis of the legs from which Lane would never recover. Fitz Henry Lane was born in and … His works of the 1850s and 1860s are successively purged of genre and topographical elements, becoming increasingly spare and essential. Check out our fitz henry lane art selection for the very best in unique or custom, handmade pieces from our shops. Lane was still working as a lithographer in Boston and is clearly employing those same techniques here with careful outline drawing and literal coloring. This was accomplished through a genuine love and understanding of the elements of nature—discernible in the intimate arrangement of leaves on a bough—and their arrangement to reveal the poetry inherent in a given scene. "Fitz Hugh Lane: Imitations and Attributions. Sensational claims that Lane was "a somewhat saddened and introspective figure … often prone to moodiness with friends",[7] and that his existence was one of "quiet loneliness",[8] have been proven fallacious with the full quotation of the testimony of John Trask, a patron, friend, and next door neighbor of the artist, who states that Lane "was always hard at work and had no moods in his work. "Fitz Hugh Lane, Ralph Waldo Emerson, and the, Gerdts, William H.; C. C. "'The Sea Is His Home': Clarence Cook Visits Fitz Hugh Lane.". In 1849, Lane began overseeing construction of a house/studio of his own design on Duncan's Point—this house would remain his primary residence to the end of his life. Gerdts, William H.; C. C. ""The Sea Is His Home": Clarence Cook Visits Fitz Hugh Lane". "American Paintings and Sculpture." (1975–1979), pp. Lithograph printed in three colors, c.1855. 597), a relatively large oil on canvas, 34 1/4 x 48 1/4 inches. [1] The reasons behind Lane's decision to change his name, and for choosing the name he did, are still very unclear; although, one suggestion is that he did it "to differentiate himself from the well-known miniature painter Nathaniel Rodgers".[2]. Lane's first-known and recorded work, a watercolor titled The Burning of the Packet Ship "Boston," executed by Lane in 1830, is regarded by many art historians as evidence of Lane's primitive grasp of the finer points of artistic composition previous to his employment at Pendleton's. Customize your fitz henry lane print with hundreds of … Fitz Henry Lane. Trask, John: Notes on the life of Fitz Henry Lane as given by John Trask of Gloucester to Emma Todd (now Mrs. Howard P. Elwell) about 1885. Fitz Henry Lane (formerly Fitz Hugh Lane) American Not on view Influenced by the English-born, Boston-based painter Robert Salmon, Lane, early in his career, painted the ports and shipping vessels of Boston; of his native Gloucester, Massachusetts; and, for a time in the early 1850s, of New York City. Name Fitz Henry Lane Also Known as. Working in the lithography shop, Lane would have been taught the stylistic techniques for producing artistic compositions from the practiced seniors among his fellow employees. Fitz Henry Lane was born Nathaniel Rogers Lane in the fishing port of Gloucester, Massachusetts on December 18, 1804; in 1831 he legally changed his first and middle names, becoming Fitz Henry Lane. Collection of the Cape Ann Historical Association, The Golden State Entering New York Harbor, "Oh Henry, Fitz Hugh Lane by Another Name", "$5.5 Million Dollar World Record | Fitz Henry Lane Painting | Skinner Inc", "Lane's Owl's Head, Penobscot Bay, Maine", Fitz Henry Lane: An online project under the direction of the CAPE ANN MUSEUM Gloucester, Massachusetts, Art and the Empire City: New York, 1825-1861, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Fitz_Henry_Lane&oldid=1020535463, Short description is different from Wikidata, Wikipedia articles with RKDartists identifiers, Wikipedia articles with SNAC-ID identifiers, Wikipedia articles with WORLDCATID identifiers, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, Depiction of various naval craft in highly accurate detail, Pronounced attention to depicting the interplay of light and dark, Hyper-accentuated vegetation within the immediate foreground, An elevated "insider point of view" perspective, Boston Harbor- Boston Museum of Fine Arts, "American Masters from Bingham to Eakins: The John Wilmerding Collection", The National Gallery of Art, May 9 – October 10, 2004. Check out our fitz henry lane selection for the very best in unique or custom, handmade pieces from our shops. It was luminism more than any other of the schools that succeeded in imbuing an objective study of nature with a depth of feeling. Lane's work would be rediscovered in the 1930s by the art collector Maxim Karolik, after which his art steadily grew in popularity among private collectors and public institutions. "Coming of Age: American, 1850s to 1950s". Lane is one of the finest nineteenth-century luminist painters. It is often speculated that Lane would most likely have pursued some seafaring career, or become a sail-maker like his father, instead of an artist, had it not been for a lifelong handicap Lane developed as a child. . mostly by painting ‘portraits’ of vessels for sailors and ship-owners,” as critic Clarence Cook wrote in 1854. Many circumstances of his young life ensured Lane's constant interaction with various aspects of this maritime life, including the fact that Lane's family lived "upon the periphery of Gloucester Harbor's working waterfront,"[3] and that his father, Jonathan Dennison Lane, was a sailmaker, and quite possibly owned and ran a sail loft. Here the drama of the sky and sea is rendered in Turner-like explosions of foam and sunlight nearly obscuring the small figure of the hunter in the foreground.–Sam HoldsworthRafes Chasm, 1853 (inv. Fitz Henry Lane American painter Fitz Henry Lane was born on the Gloucester Peninsula in Massachusetts, which left an indelible mark on his artistry. 11–19. Please note that the information on this and all pages is periodically reviewed and subject to change. Howat, John K.; Sharp, Lewis I.; Salinger, Margaretta M. "American Paintings and Sculpture." 597), » Browse works by type:Paintings  //  Drawings  //  Prints. Each fitz henry lane art print is produced using archival inks, ships within 48 hours, and comes with a 30-day money back guarantee! Lane could still have become a sail-maker, as such an occupation entailed much time spent sitting and sewing, and that Lane already had some experience sewing from his short-lived apprenticeship in shoe-making. L. H. Bradford & Co's. Commanding one of the finest panoramic views of Gloucester Harbor, the artist Fitz Henry Lane designed and built this austere but romantic granite house in 1848-49 with Gothic vaulted chambers, stone details, and an almost arbitrary interior room plan set high on a … Furthermore, it has been suggested by art historian James A. Craig that because he could not play games as the other children did, he was forced to find some other means of amusement, and that in such a pursuit he discovered and was able to develop his talent for drawing. Lane has given equal emphasis to all elements of the composition, and while the coloring is quite literal he has created a lovely harmony with the various blues employed across the composition. Mary Foley. It was not until March 13, 1832, that the state of Massachusetts would officially grant Lane's own formal request (made in a letter dated December 26, 1831) to change his name from Nathaniel Rogers to Fitz Henry Lane. Boston Harbor, Sunset, Fitz Henry Lane (United States, Massachusetts, Gloucester, 1804-1865), United States, 1850-1855, Paintings, Oil on canvas, Boston harbor is … Linked Open Data Linked Open Data URI. The English maritime painter Robert Salmon, who, historians have discovered, came to work at Pendleton's at a period coinciding with Lane's employment therein, is regarded as having had a large impact, stylistically, on Lane's early works. As with practically all aspects of Lane's life, the subject of his name is one surrounded by much confusion—it was not until 2005 that historians discovered that they had been wrongly referring to the artist as Fitz Hugh, as opposed to his chosen Fitz Henry. From the time of his birth, Lane would be exposed to the sea and maritime life—a factor that obviously had a great impact on his later choice of subject matter. Starlight in Fog . [3] To go a step further, as a result of his having a busy seaport as immediate surroundings, he was able to develop a special skill in depicting the goings-on inherent in such an environment. (1965–1975), pp. Good condition and color, save for mild toning. However ambiguous many aspects of Lane's life and career may remain, a few things are certain. All fitz henry lane paintings ship within 48 hours and include a 30-day money-back guarantee. Paralyzed as a young child, probably by infantile polio, Lane was obliged to use crutches. 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