Stage Fort across Gloucester Harbor 1862

Fitz Henry Lane created this painting of Gloucester Harbor with oil on canvas. This was, and remains, a standard process for painters. But consider how Lane treats the canvas: he burnishes it to a nearly reflective surface, and layers thin coats of paint in a technique called "glazing." With its limpid reflections and becalmed surfaces, Stage Fort across Gloucester Harbor pictures a world in equipoise. Lane was working at a time when American artists were trying to create a distinctive vision, one that was adequate to the country’s unprecedented natural beauty. In the process, they were also implicitly contrasting it with the industrializing cities of Europe. Lane’s method of building up the painting through thin layers of precise workmanship also evokes the unhurried pace of life that he so admired. Here, the craft of painting is more than just a technique, it's a way of celebrating a sense of place. Ultimately, this approach invites us to consider all artwork with close attention to material and process.