Cape Ann Museum
Through the winter season, the Cape Ann Museum will hold its exhibition dedicated to the lithographs of celebrated 19th century artist Fitz Henry Lane
Through the winter season, the Cape Ann Museum will hold its exhibition dedicated to the lithographs of celebrated 19th-century artist Fitz Henry Lane
Through early March, the Cape Ann Museum is holding its special exhibition Drawn from Nature & on Stone:the Lithographs of Fitz Henry Lane.as the first comprehensive exhibition focusing on the 19th century American artist as a printmaker, the show investigates Lane’s lithographs and explores the intersection of his work in oil and print, as well as his success at creating illustrations for sheet music, business cards and stationery, advertising materials and book illustrations.the exhibition will
hang through March 4 at the museum in Gloucester, Massachusetts.
Fitz Henry Lane (1804-1865) has long been recognized as one of America’s most important artists of the mid-19th century. First trained in lithography in Boston, by the late 1840s Lane was rapidly establishing himself as a well-known and sought-after painter. During the 1850s and into the 1860s, Lane created an unknown number of canvases documenting and celebrating the world around him.today, the Cape Ann Museum displays the world’s single largest collection of oil paintings by the esteemed American artist.
“Lane’s early years are carefully chronicled by his lithographic work,” explains Georgia Barnhill, guest curator of the exhibition.“the exhibition is of great importance to the town of Gloucester and the Cape Ann Museum because Lane grew up and lived most of his life in the town.the granite house he built still looks over the active port towards islands and coves that he drew and painted.”
His work included views not only of Gloucester and surrounding communities, but also of Boston Harbor, coastal Maine, New York Harbor and other locales.the exhibition will highlight a series of views Lane created of towns and cities throughout the region including Gloucester, Boston and Baltimore, as well as Norwich, Connecticut, and Castine, Maine. While his canvases remain the work he is best known for, Lane’s lifelong fascination with the art of lithography remains an important and central part of his career. In total, Lane is thought to have had a hand in the production of approximately 65 lithographs.
“What we have come to realize is that printmaking was central to Lane throughout his life. It was an art that he returned to again and again, even after he had established himself as a successful painter,” says Martha Oaks, Cape Ann Museum curator.“the techniques he learned in the lithography workshop, the other artists whom he met and befriended working as a printmaker, and the collaborative spirit that went into creating lithographs stayed with Lane long after he set himself up in business as an oil painter.”
The exhibition will feature lithographs from the museum’s own holdings and from collections throughout the region, and offers the opportunity to explore the intersection of Lane’s work as a printmaker and a painter, learn more about the art of lithography and consider the enduring effects image production has had on American culture since the early 19th century. Programming will explore Fitz Henry Lane’s life and career in detail and against the backdrop of 19th century printmaking culture in America. For information or to purchase tickets, visit camuseum.eventbrite.com or call (978) 283-0455. For additional programming related to this exhibition, please see the museum’s website at www.capeannmuseum.org.