18 Dec 2017

Drawn from Nature & on Stone: The Lithographs of Fitz Henry Lane

Cape Ann Museum

Reviewed by David Curcio

The Cape Ann Museum holds the largest collection of paintings by the great 19th-century maritime painter Fitz Henry Lane, whose works in oils are among some of the most profound images to emerge from the artists' haven that was Gloucester.

Translating Lane's hazy skies and crisp, exacting vessels to lithography is less of a leap than one might think, with infinite approaches available to the medium ranging from the finest of lines to charcoal blacks and tonal washes. No drawing process carries the same sensuality as that of making marks on a lithographic stone. The exhibition imparts the exacting nature of Lane's technique, as he worked in tandem with pressmen who helped him build color through overlaps, achieving almost fathomless delicacy in inking his streaked clouds and agitated seas. Those unfamiliar with the how - or more importantly the why - of lithography will gain understanding in the pairing of the prints with Lane's oils.