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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. 241
Brig Off the Maine Coast
Brig off a Lee Shore; Merchant Brig under Reefed Topsails
1851 Oil on canvas 24 x 36 3/8 in. (61 x 92.4 cm) Signed and dated lower right: FHL / 1851
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Related Work in the Catalog
Provenance (Information known to date; research ongoing.)
The Old Print Shop, New York, 1962
Childs Gallery, Boston
Private collection, Mass., until 1980
Charles C. and Elma Ralphs Shoemaker, 1981
Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 1994
Exhibition History
DeCordova Museum, Lincoln, Massachusetts, Fitz Hugh Lane: The First Major Exhibition, March 20–April 17, 1966., no. 35, Brig off a Lee Shore, dated 1852.
Traveled to: Colby College Art Museum, Waterville, Maine, 30–6, 1966.
Traveled to: Colby College Art Museum, Waterville, Maine, 30–6, 1966.
National Gallery of Art, Washington, District of Columbia, Paintings by Fitz Hugh Lane, May 15–September 5, 1988., no. 40, ill. in color, p. 87, Merchant Brig under Reefed Topsails.
Traveled to: Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Mass., 5–31, 1988.
Traveled to: Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Mass., 5–31, 1988.
Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, California, SEEING, November 18, 2001–September 2, 2002.
National Museum of Korea, Seoul, South Korea, Art across America, February 4–May 19, 2013., ill. in color, pp. 86–87.
Traveled to: Art Gallery of South Wales, Sydney, Australia, 8, 2013–9, 2014; De Daegu Museum of Art, South Korea, 17–1, 2013.
Traveled to: Art Gallery of South Wales, Sydney, Australia, 8, 2013–9, 2014; De Daegu Museum of Art, South Korea, 17–1, 2013.
Published References
The Old Print Shop. Portfolio XXI (June–July 1962)., no. 40, ill.
Wilmerding, John. Fitz Hugh Lane: The First Major Exhibition. Lincoln, MA: De Cordova Museum; in association with Colby College Art Museum, 1966., no. 35, Brig off a Lee Shore, dated 1852. ⇒ includes 
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Taft, Lewis A. "Fitz Hugh Lane." Yankee (May 1968)., ill. in color, pp. 90–91.
Wilmerding, John. Paintings by Fitz Hugh Lane. Washington, DC: National Gallery of Art; in association with Harry N. Abrams, 1988., no. 40, ills. in color, p. 60 (detail), 87, Merchant Brig under Reefed Topsails, with date of 1863.
SEEING. Los Angeles: Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 2002.
McAuliffe, Chris, and Angela Miller. America: Painting a Nation. Sydney, Australia: Art Gallery of New South Wales, 2013., ill. in color, pp. 94–95.
Art across America (text in Korean and English). Seoul, South Korea: National Museum of Korea, 2013., ill. in color, pp. 86–87.
Slifkin, Robert. "Fitz Henry Lane and the Compromised Landscape, 1848–1865." American Art 27, no. 3 (Fall 2013). View on Stable URL: www.jstor.org », fig. 8, p. 79, text, pp. 78, 81. ⇒ includes text
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Commentary
Close-hauled, on a starboard tack before an overtaking squall, a merchant brig passes dangerously close to a rocky headland. The place given in the painting’s title is conjectural—it could also be anywhere between Boston and Cape Ann—but the situation was all too real for vessels sailing New England’s rockbound coastal routes in the nineteenth century.
Lane’s understanding of ships and shiphandling under these conditions was impeccable, thanks no doubt to knowledge imparted by friends and clients in the merchant shipping business. The strength of the wind has been sufficient to have the topgallant sails sent down, yards and all, leaving the topgallant masts as bare poles. The topsails have been shortened, single reefed, and the reef tackles hooked to the bottom reef cringles (eyes) to further reduce sail area, when necessary. The main course has been furled and the spanker has been reefed, and with only the fore-staysail drawing, the outer jibs have been furled. The brig is properly snugged down and her shortened sail plan is balanced to make steering as easy as possible.
From what is visible of her deck arrangement, this brig was probably in the coastal packet trade. Her long quarter deck and cabin occupy all space abaft the main mast, indicating extensive accommodations for passengers. Studding sail (stu’ns’l) yards indicate a need to keep moving in light airs to meet a schedule. The square rig itself suggests long passages, coastal and offshore, between New England and southern ports, including the West Indies.
The light in this painting is particularly consistent with weather conditions and the illumination of the brig and its sails. While there are inconsistencies in these effects in some of Lane’s paintings (best explained as artistic license), here the play of light on rocks, waves, clouds, the brig’s hull, and her sails all come from a fixed source. Lane was one of the very few artists who could accurately depict light and shadows of sails drawing a breeze, and the wrinkles and folds of furled and reefed sails. Brig Off the Maine Coast depicts these effects in a way that would command seasoned sailors' attention and respect.
– Erik Ronnberg