Skip to main contentProvenanceThe artist
Kennedy Galleries, New York, New York
Norman Woolworth, 1948
Steve Ross, Chairman of the Board, Time-Warner, New York, New York, 1965
Pierce Galleries, Hingham, Massachusetts
Terra Foundation for the Arts Collection, Chicago, Illinois, 1993
Exhibition HistoryPublished References
Fitz Henry Lane
(American, 1804–1865)
Gloucester Harbor
1856
Oil on canvas
Image: 22 3/8 x 36 1/16 in. (56.8 x 91.6 cm)
Frame: 27 3/8 x 41 9/16 in. (69.5 x 105.6 cm)
Frame: 27 3/8 x 41 9/16 in. (69.5 x 105.6 cm)
Credit LineTerra Foundation for American Art, Daniel J. Terra Collection
Object number1993.21
SignedLower right: F.H. Lane/1856.
InterpretationOne of many views Fitz Henry Lane painted of the waterfront of his hometown, Gloucester Harbor demonstrates the artist’s mature style in its quiet repose and dominant luminous sky. Lane painted this view from Brookbank (the summer residence of Samuel E. Sawyer, one of his most important patrons), located on the Cape Ann shore south of Gloucester. The prosperous town appears at a serene distance across the smooth waters of the outer harbor, framed by the old fort on the left and the low hump of Ten Pound Island near the middle of the canvas. The almost still water reflects the clear light of the twilight sky, while shadows dim the curving shore to the left and the foreground of pebbly shore strewn with boulders and the remains of discarded boats, a barrel, and a fish trap. Two men conversing on the beach and a fisherman in a small boat in the middle distance animate the quiet scene.
Gloucester Harbor, with its flat expanse of calm water, low horizon, glowing sky, and darker framing elements of land or tall ships, is typical of Lane’s shore scenes. In such later works, painted beginning in the mid-1850s, the accurate representation of individual vessels is subordinated to the unity of the entire composition, achieved partly through the emphasis on pervasive light and the contrasting relative darkness of solid foreground objects. In Gloucester Harbor, the transient effect of declining daylight and its potential for emotional expressiveness become as much Lane’s subject as the harbor itself. This approach, applied to coastal themes, is typical of the trend in landscape painting at the time dubbed “luminism” by modern scholars.
Lane painted numerous views of Gloucester harbor from a variety of viewpoints, many showing the activity of men and vessels concerned with trade and fishing, the industries upon which the town had flourished since its establishment in the early seventeenth century. Even his busiest images, however, present Gloucester as a quiet, unhurried place by focusing on the harbor and by showing the town itself only from a distance, across placid waters, as in the Terra Foundation’s painting. In fact, Gloucester was changing rapidly in the years Lane painted it intensively. The extension of the eastern railroad to the town in 1847 not only opened the local fisheries to larger markets but brought tourism to Gloucester and the nearby picturesque shoreline of Cape Ann. Lane profited by these changes, for he found patrons such as Sawyer among the town’s new summer residents. His paintings make no reference to such developments, but preserve the Gloucester of his youth, a quiet fishing village.
Gloucester Harbor, with its flat expanse of calm water, low horizon, glowing sky, and darker framing elements of land or tall ships, is typical of Lane’s shore scenes. In such later works, painted beginning in the mid-1850s, the accurate representation of individual vessels is subordinated to the unity of the entire composition, achieved partly through the emphasis on pervasive light and the contrasting relative darkness of solid foreground objects. In Gloucester Harbor, the transient effect of declining daylight and its potential for emotional expressiveness become as much Lane’s subject as the harbor itself. This approach, applied to coastal themes, is typical of the trend in landscape painting at the time dubbed “luminism” by modern scholars.
Lane painted numerous views of Gloucester harbor from a variety of viewpoints, many showing the activity of men and vessels concerned with trade and fishing, the industries upon which the town had flourished since its establishment in the early seventeenth century. Even his busiest images, however, present Gloucester as a quiet, unhurried place by focusing on the harbor and by showing the town itself only from a distance, across placid waters, as in the Terra Foundation’s painting. In fact, Gloucester was changing rapidly in the years Lane painted it intensively. The extension of the eastern railroad to the town in 1847 not only opened the local fisheries to larger markets but brought tourism to Gloucester and the nearby picturesque shoreline of Cape Ann. Lane profited by these changes, for he found patrons such as Sawyer among the town’s new summer residents. His paintings make no reference to such developments, but preserve the Gloucester of his youth, a quiet fishing village.
Kennedy Galleries, New York, New York
Norman Woolworth, 1948
Steve Ross, Chairman of the Board, Time-Warner, New York, New York, 1965
Pierce Galleries, Hingham, Massachusetts
Terra Foundation for the Arts Collection, Chicago, Illinois, 1993
Exhibition History
Collection Cameo, Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois, August 1995.
Permanent collection installation, Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois, April 12–August 27, 1997.
Rivières et rivages: les artistes américains, 1850–1900 (Waves and Waterways: American Perspectives, 1850–1900), Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, France (organizer). Venue: Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, France, April 1–October 31, 2000. [exh. cat.]
Ships at Sea: Sailing Through Summer, Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois (organizer). Venue: Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois, June 6–August 26, 2001.
D'une colonie à une collection: le Musée d'Art Américain Giverny fête ses dix ans (From a Colony to a Collection: Celebrating the Tenth Anniversary of the Musée d'Art Américain Giverny), Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, France (organizer). Venue: Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, France, March 30–June 16, 2002.
The People Work: American Perspectives, 1840–1940 (Le Travail à l'oeuvre: les artistes américains 1840–1940), Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois (organizer). Venues: Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois, March 15–May 25, 2003; Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, France, June 8–August 17, 2003. [exh. cat.]
La Scène américaine, 1860–1930 (Americans at Home, 1860–1930), Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, Giverny, France (organizer). Venues: Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, Giverny, France, July 10–October 30, 2005.
La Scène américaine, 1860–1930 (Americans at Home, 1860–1930), Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, Giverny, France (organizer). Venues: Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, Giverny, France, April 1–October 29, 2006.
America! Storie di pittura dal nuovo mondo, Linea d'ombra, Treviso, Italy (organizer). Venue: Museo di Santa Giulia, Brescia, Italy, November 24, 2007–May 4, 2008. [exh. cat.]
Continental Shift: Nineteenth Century American and Australian Landscape Painting, Art Gallery of Western Australia, Perth, Australia and Terra Foundation for American Art, Chicago, Illinois (organizers). Venue: Art Gallery of Western Australia, July 30, 2016–February 5, 2017. [exh. cat.]
Not as the Songs of other Lands: 19th century Australian and American Landscape Painting, Ian Potter Museum of Art, Melbourne, Australia and Terra Foundation for American Art, Chicago, Illinois (organizers). Venue: Ian Potter Museum of Art, March 14–June 11, 2017.
Permanent collection installation, Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois, April 12–August 27, 1997.
Rivières et rivages: les artistes américains, 1850–1900 (Waves and Waterways: American Perspectives, 1850–1900), Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, France (organizer). Venue: Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, France, April 1–October 31, 2000. [exh. cat.]
Ships at Sea: Sailing Through Summer, Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois (organizer). Venue: Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois, June 6–August 26, 2001.
D'une colonie à une collection: le Musée d'Art Américain Giverny fête ses dix ans (From a Colony to a Collection: Celebrating the Tenth Anniversary of the Musée d'Art Américain Giverny), Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, France (organizer). Venue: Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, France, March 30–June 16, 2002.
The People Work: American Perspectives, 1840–1940 (Le Travail à l'oeuvre: les artistes américains 1840–1940), Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois (organizer). Venues: Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois, March 15–May 25, 2003; Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, France, June 8–August 17, 2003. [exh. cat.]
La Scène américaine, 1860–1930 (Americans at Home, 1860–1930), Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, Giverny, France (organizer). Venues: Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, Giverny, France, July 10–October 30, 2005.
La Scène américaine, 1860–1930 (Americans at Home, 1860–1930), Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, Giverny, France (organizer). Venues: Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, Giverny, France, April 1–October 29, 2006.
America! Storie di pittura dal nuovo mondo, Linea d'ombra, Treviso, Italy (organizer). Venue: Museo di Santa Giulia, Brescia, Italy, November 24, 2007–May 4, 2008. [exh. cat.]
Continental Shift: Nineteenth Century American and Australian Landscape Painting, Art Gallery of Western Australia, Perth, Australia and Terra Foundation for American Art, Chicago, Illinois (organizers). Venue: Art Gallery of Western Australia, July 30, 2016–February 5, 2017. [exh. cat.]
Not as the Songs of other Lands: 19th century Australian and American Landscape Painting, Ian Potter Museum of Art, Melbourne, Australia and Terra Foundation for American Art, Chicago, Illinois (organizers). Venue: Ian Potter Museum of Art, March 14–June 11, 2017.
Hemphill, Christopher. "Daniel Terra and His Collection." Town & Country (February 1984): 196.
Southgate, M. Therese. "The Cover." The Journal of the American Medical Association 272:7 (August 17, 1994). Text p. 500; ill. cover (color).
The Journal of the American Medical Association Japan (December 12, 1994): cover. Ill. cover (color).
Gloucester Harbor, Fitz Hugh Lane. Collection Cameo sheet, Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois, August 1995. Ill. (black & white).
Cartwright, Derrick R. Waves and Waterways: American Perspectives, 1850–1900. (exh. cat., Musée d'Art Américain Giverny). Chicago, Illinois: Terra Foundation for the Arts, 2000. Text pp. 16, 27 (checklist); fig. 6, p. 16 (black & white).
Cartwright, Derrick R. Rivières et rivages: les artistes américains, 1850–1900. (exh. cat., Musée d'Art Américain Giverny). Chicago, Illinois: Terra Foundation for the Arts, 2000. Text pp. 16, 27 (checklist); fig. 6, p. 16 (black & white).
Bourguignon, Katherine M. and Elizabeth Kennedy. The People Work: American Perspectives, 1840–1940. (exh. cat., Terra Museum of American Art). Chicago, Illinois: Terra Foundation for the Arts, 2003. Text pp. 17, 28 (checklist); ill. p. 34 (color).
Bourguignon, Katherine M. and Elizabeth Kennedy. Le Travail à l'oeuvre: les artistes américains, 1840–1940. (exh. cat., Terra Museum of American Art). Chicago, Illinois: Terra Foundation for the Arts, 2003. Text pp. 17, 28 (checklist); ill. p. 34 (color).
Goldin, Marco. America! Storie di pittura dal Nuovo Mondo. (exh. cat., Museo di Santa Giulia, Brescia, Italy). Treviso, Italy: Linea d'ombra Libri, 2007. text p. 480 (checklist) Ill. cat. no. 34 pp. 111 (color), 480 (black & white as Il porto di Gloucester).
“Gloucester Harbor, 1856 (inv. 75).” Fitz Henry Lane Online. Cape Ann Museum. Accessed January 27, 2016. http://fitzhenrylaneonline.org/catalog/entry.php?id=75. Cat. no. 75.
Southgate, M. Therese. "The Cover." The Journal of the American Medical Association 272:7 (August 17, 1994). Text p. 500; ill. cover (color).
The Journal of the American Medical Association Japan (December 12, 1994): cover. Ill. cover (color).
Gloucester Harbor, Fitz Hugh Lane. Collection Cameo sheet, Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois, August 1995. Ill. (black & white).
Cartwright, Derrick R. Waves and Waterways: American Perspectives, 1850–1900. (exh. cat., Musée d'Art Américain Giverny). Chicago, Illinois: Terra Foundation for the Arts, 2000. Text pp. 16, 27 (checklist); fig. 6, p. 16 (black & white).
Cartwright, Derrick R. Rivières et rivages: les artistes américains, 1850–1900. (exh. cat., Musée d'Art Américain Giverny). Chicago, Illinois: Terra Foundation for the Arts, 2000. Text pp. 16, 27 (checklist); fig. 6, p. 16 (black & white).
Bourguignon, Katherine M. and Elizabeth Kennedy. The People Work: American Perspectives, 1840–1940. (exh. cat., Terra Museum of American Art). Chicago, Illinois: Terra Foundation for the Arts, 2003. Text pp. 17, 28 (checklist); ill. p. 34 (color).
Bourguignon, Katherine M. and Elizabeth Kennedy. Le Travail à l'oeuvre: les artistes américains, 1840–1940. (exh. cat., Terra Museum of American Art). Chicago, Illinois: Terra Foundation for the Arts, 2003. Text pp. 17, 28 (checklist); ill. p. 34 (color).
Goldin, Marco. America! Storie di pittura dal Nuovo Mondo. (exh. cat., Museo di Santa Giulia, Brescia, Italy). Treviso, Italy: Linea d'ombra Libri, 2007. text p. 480 (checklist) Ill. cat. no. 34 pp. 111 (color), 480 (black & white as Il porto di Gloucester).
“Gloucester Harbor, 1856 (inv. 75).” Fitz Henry Lane Online. Cape Ann Museum. Accessed January 27, 2016. http://fitzhenrylaneonline.org/catalog/entry.php?id=75. Cat. no. 75.