Lane, Mellen artwork returns to Gloucester
Much of the work of Fitz Henry Lane and Mary Blood Mellen is at the Cape Ann Historical Museum on special exhibit through Sept. 16, titled "Fitz Henry Lane & Mary Blood Mellen: Old Mysteries and New Discoveries." It is the first time some of Lane's native paintings have returned to Gloucester.
Lane, born as Nathaniel Rogers Lane in Gloucester in 1804, spent much of his life painting schooners and Gloucester seascapes. His work is well known, but details of his life remain somewhat of a mystery.
Lane petitioned to change his name to Fitz Henry Lane in 1831. He most commonly signed his paintings with "F.H. Lane," which is also the name printed on his business cards. Due to a journalistic error, Lane became known as "Fitz Hugh Lane" until recently when paintings with his full signature on them were discovered.
Paintings by Mary Blood Mellen, a student and close friend of Lane's, are also on display at the museum. Mellen would paint side-by-side with Lane, copying his paintings, and several of them are hung next to Lane's in the museum today, just as they may have been when they were created.
Women were not accepted as artists in that time, but some were commissioned to copy paintings by men, said Dawn Dexter, a volunteer giving a tour at the museum. Dexter is a docent at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston.
"Copying was the way artists were trained at the time," Dexter said. "It was a training tool."
The Cape Ann Historical Museum has the largest collection of paintings by Lane. The collection includes more than 40 of his oil paintings and more than 100 of his pencil drawings.
Lane never had formal training in painting, but he was trained as a lithographer. His father, Jonathan Dennison Lane, was a sail maker.
"The schooners are precise and exact in his paintings," Dexter said, noting that Mellen's are not quite as perfect. Another difference between the work of the two is that Mellen's tonality includes rose, and more heightened colors.
Special programs
A narrated <span style="">walking tour</span> of Lane's Gloucester is being held on Saturday, Aug. 25 at 9 a.m. The tour leaves from the museum, and reservations are required.
<span style="">Gallery talks</span> by museum staff are scheduled for Wednesdays at 2 p.m. and Saturdays at 11 a.m.
Two <span style="">free lectures</span> will be given at City Hall. The first will be Sunday, Aug. 12 at 3 p.m. "Sisters of the Brush: Women Artists in 19th Century America;" the second is Thursday, Aug. 23 at 7 p.m., "The American Sublime in Trans-Atlantic Perspective."
New revelations on Fitz Henry Lane
Author, curator and art historian James Craig will speak on "New Revelations on the Life and Art of Fitz Henry Lane" on Tuesday, Aug. 14 at 7:30 p.m. in the Waterline Education Center of the Essex Shipbuilding Museum, 66 Main St., Essex.
Craig has uncovered numerous new findings regarding the mysteries of Fitz Henry Lane. A special focus of this program will be Lane's works of Cape Ann and Essex, including a previously unknown Lane portrait of an Essex-built schooner.
Using documents, personal testimonies and artwork by Lane and his students, Craig will speak about remarkable new discoveries that are revolutionizing our understanding of both Fitz Henry Lane and the world of 19th-century American art.
Admission is $5 for members, $7 for non-members. The Waterline Center is handicap-accessible.