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Fitz Henry Lane
HISTORICAL ARCHIVE • CATALOGUE RAISONNÉ • EDUCATIONAL RESOURCE
An online project under the direction of the CAPE ANN MUSEUM
An online project under the direction of the CAPE ANN MUSEUM
Catalog entry
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inv. 408
Fishing Boats at Low Tide
1850s Oil on canvas mounted on Masonite 12 x 18 in. (30.5 x 45.7 cm) No inscription found
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Provenance (Information known to date; research ongoing.)
Charles D. Childs, Boston
Addison Gallery of American Art, Phillips Academy, Andover, Mass., 1943
Exhibition History
American Federation of Arts, New York, New York, American Painting, 1800–1900, August 16–31, 1954.
Traveled to: Hackley Art Gallery, 2–22, 1954; Public Library of Winston Salem and Forsyth County, Salem-Winston, N.C., 2–22, 1954; White Museum of Art, Cornell University, Ithaca, N.Y., 2–22, 1954; Phillips Exeter Academy, Exeter, N.H., 4–25, 1955; Chattanooga Art Association, Chattanooga, Tenn., 8–1, 1955; University of Delaware, Newark, Del., 12–2, 1955; Washburn University, Topeka, Kan., 12–3, 1955; Charles and Emma Frye Museum, Seattle, Wash., 18–8, 1955; Rosicrucian Egyptian, Oriental Museum, San Jose, Calif., 18–17, 1955.
Traveled to: Hackley Art Gallery, 2–22, 1954; Public Library of Winston Salem and Forsyth County, Salem-Winston, N.C., 2–22, 1954; White Museum of Art, Cornell University, Ithaca, N.Y., 2–22, 1954; Phillips Exeter Academy, Exeter, N.H., 4–25, 1955; Chattanooga Art Association, Chattanooga, Tenn., 8–1, 1955; University of Delaware, Newark, Del., 12–2, 1955; Washburn University, Topeka, Kan., 12–3, 1955; Charles and Emma Frye Museum, Seattle, Wash., 18–8, 1955; Rosicrucian Egyptian, Oriental Museum, San Jose, Calif., 18–17, 1955.
Ogunquit Museum of American Art, Ogunquit, Maine, Fitz Hugh Lane Exhibition, June 17–July 14, 1960.
Crapo Gallery, Swain School of Design, New Bedford, Massachusetts, Swain School of Design Summer Exhibition, August 4–11, 1963.
DeCordova Museum, Lincoln, Massachusetts, Fitz Hugh Lane: The First Major Exhibition, March 20–April 17, 1966., no. 14.
Traveled to: Colby College Art Museum, Waterville, Maine, 30–6, 1966.
Traveled to: Colby College Art Museum, Waterville, Maine, 30–6, 1966.
Addison Gallery of American Art, Andover, Massachusetts, Visions of the New Land: 19th Century American Landscape, November 7–December 7, 1980.
Addison Gallery of American Art, Andover, Massachusetts, Andover Garden Club Exhibition, November 14–16, 1980.
Hirschl & Adler Galleries, New York, New York, Masterworks of American Art from the Addison Gallery Collection, October 6–31, 1981.
Addison Gallery of American Art, Andover, Massachusetts, New England Scenes from the Collection, September 26–November 28, 1982.
Addison Gallery of American Art, Andover, Massachusetts, Landscapes from the Permanent Collection, April 1–May 1, 1983.
Addison Gallery of American Art, Andover, Massachusetts, American Masterworks, October 5–December 16, 1990.
Addison Gallery of American Art, Andover, Massachusetts, Point of View: Landscapes from the Addison Collection, October 16–December 20, 1992.
Addison Gallery of American Art, Andover, Massachusetts, Masterworks from the Permanent Collection, January 21–April 3, 1994.
Addison Gallery of American Art, Andover, Massachusetts, 1/4" scale: Models of American Sailing Ships, September 25, 1994–January 12, 1995.
Addison Gallery of American Art, Andover, Massachusetts, Masterworks from the Permanent Collection, September 5–December 17, 1995.
Addison Gallery of American Art, Cheney Cowles Museum, Spokane, Washington, Framing America's Landscapes: Painting from the Addison Gallery of American Art, November 20, 1998–March 7, 1999.
Traveled to: Douglas F. Cooley Memorial Art Gallery, Reed College, Portland, Ore., 23–19, 1999.
Traveled to: Douglas F. Cooley Memorial Art Gallery, Reed College, Portland, Ore., 23–19, 1999.
Addison Gallery of American Art, Andover, Massachusetts, Masterworks from the Permanent Collection, February 22–March 26, 2000.
Addison Gallery of American Art, Andover, Massachusetts, The American Land: Selections from the Addison Collection, January 19–April 8, 2001.
Addison Gallery of American Art, Andover, Massachusetts, The Small Format Landscape, December 23, 2005–April 9, 2006.
Addison Gallery of American Art and American Federation of Arts, Addison Gallery of American Art, Andover, Massachusetts, Coming of Age: American Art, 1850s to 1950s, September 9, 2006–January 7, 2007.
Traveled to: Meadows Museum of Art, Dallas, Tex., 30, 2007–28, 2008; Museum of Art, Fort Lauderdale, Fla., 6, 2008–23, 2009; Dulwich Picture Gallery, London, United Kingdom, 14–8, 2008; The Peggy Guggenheim Collection, Venice, Italy, 27–12, 2008; Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec, Quebec, Canada, 21–7, 2009.
Traveled to: Meadows Museum of Art, Dallas, Tex., 30, 2007–28, 2008; Museum of Art, Fort Lauderdale, Fla., 6, 2008–23, 2009; Dulwich Picture Gallery, London, United Kingdom, 14–8, 2008; The Peggy Guggenheim Collection, Venice, Italy, 27–12, 2008; Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec, Quebec, Canada, 21–7, 2009.
Addison Gallery of American Art, Andover, Massachusetts, Inside, Outside, Upstairs, Downstairs: The Addison Anew, September 7, 2010–March 27, 2011.
Addison Gallery of American Art, Andover, Massachusetts, Eye on the Collection, March 27–July 31, 2013.
Published References
The American Neptune, Pictorial Supplement VII: A Selection of Marine Paintings by Fitz Hugh Lane, 1804–1865. Salem, MA: The American Neptune, 1965., pl. XV, no. 73. ⇒ includes 
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Wilmerding, John. Fitz Hugh Lane: The First Major Exhibition. Lincoln, MA: De Cordova Museum; in association with Colby College Art Museum, 1966., no. 14. ⇒ includes text
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Addison Gallery of American Art: 65 Years. Essays by Susan C. Faxon, Avis Berman, and Jock Reynolds. Andover, MA: Addison Gallery of American Art, 1996.
Commentary
An unidentified New England harbor, at low tide and shrouded by fog, has provided the perfect setting for Lane to show his mastery of atmospheric effects in an intimate harbor setting, and his mastery of hull form in three small fishing vessels. Two of the latter are schooners; the third (without sails) is a sloop. Later in the nineteenth century, these working craft would have been called two “schooner-boats” and a “sloop-boat” – the better to distinguish them from larger fishing schooners and merchant sloops, as well as small pleasure craft with one- and two-masted sailing rigs.
The two schooners are going nowhere until the tide rises, but the sloop is apparently still afloat and her skipper has thrown a line to the men on the wharf who have made it fast to a post. He is now hauling his sloop to the wharf to tie up and begin outfitting for the next fishing trip.
Lane’s depiction of the two grounded schooners showcases his understanding of hull form and how the run of the planking is affected by the contours of the hull bottom. Notable are the shape of the stern in the foreground schooner and the bow of the schooner behind it. So skillfully are the contours depicted, it would be hard for a naval architect to find fault with them.
In this picture, Lane has given us his undivided attention to two aspects of his art: the stillness and isolation of a fog-bound harbor, and the beauty and charm of working watercraft depicted with accuracy and understanding of the subjects.
—Erik Ronnberg