Gloucester Harbor at Sunset | Harvard Art Museums

Gallery Text

Lane’s maritime scenes are among the most enigmatic paintings in the history of American art. This work depicts the outer entrance to Gloucester Harbor, a busy trading port north of Boston. Two double-ended fishing vessels or “pinkies” maneuver around a pair of large schooners toward the harbor, which is visible in the background. Though their sails are unfurled and their hulls weighed down with cargo, the ships appear motionless. No wake disturbs the glassy surface of the ocean. Lane alludes to the world of commerce and exchange, but replaces the bustle of the marketplace with an atmosphere of calm.

The facture of Gloucester Harbor at Sunset is as distinctive as its subject. Lane eliminated almost every sign of his hand and brush from the painting. Nothing, not even traces of the artist’s labor, disturbs the serenity of the scene.

Identification and Creation

Object Number: TL41275
People: Fitz Henry Lane, American (Gloucester, MA 1804 - 1865 Gloucester, MA)
Title: Gloucester Harbor at Sunset
Classification: Paintings
Work Type: painting
Date: c. 1859
Culture: American
Persistent Link: https://hvrd.art/o/342199

Location

Location: Level 2, Room 2100, European and American Art, 17th–19th century, Centuries of Tradition, Changing Times: Art for an Uncertain Age

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Physical Descriptions

Medium: oil on canvas
Dimensions: 61 x 96.5 cm (24 x 38 in.)
framed: 78.7 x 116.2 x 7.6 cm (31 x 45 3/4 x 3 in.)

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line: Gift of Charles E. Cotting, 1968. HBS Art and Artifacts Collection, Harvard Business School.
Object Number: TL41275
Division: European and American Art
Contact: am_europeanamerican@harvard.edu
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Publication History

Kenyon Castle Bolton, III, Peter G. Huenink, Earl A. Powell III, Harry Z. Rand, and Nanette C. Sexton, American Art at Harvard, exh. cat., Fogg Art Museum (Cambridge, MA, 1972), cat. 55, ill.

Exhibition History

American Art at Harvard, Fogg Art Museum, Cambridge, 04/19/1972 - 06/18/1972
32Q: 2100 19th Century, Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, 11/16/2014 - 01/01/2050

Verification Level

This record was created from historic documentation and may not have been reviewed by a curator; it may be inaccurate or incomplete. Our records are frequently revised and enhanced. For more information please contact the Division of European and American Art at am_europeanamerican@harvard.edu

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TL41275: Gloucester Harbor at Sunset