Фиц Генри Лейн: Теңіз суреттерінің шебері

American painter

Fitz Henry Lane (born Nathaniel Rogers Lane; also formerly, mistakenly, known as Fitz Hugh Lane; The reasons behind Lane's decision to change his name, and for choosing the name he did, are still unclear; one suggestion is that he did it "to differentiate himself from the well known miniature painter Nathaniel Rodgers". From the time of his birth, Lane would be exposed to the sea and maritime life—a factor that obviously had a great impact on his later choice of subject matter. Many circumstances of his young life ensured Lane's constant interaction with various aspects of this maritime life, including the fact that Lane's family lived "upon the periphery of Gloucester Harbor's working waterfront," and that his father, Jonathan Dennison Lane, was a sailmaker, and quite possibly owned and ran a sail loft. It is often speculated that Lane would most likely have pursued some seafaring career, or become a sail maker like his father, instead of an artist, had it not been for a lifelong handicap Lane developed as a child. Although the cause cannot be known with certainty, it is thought that the ingestion of some part of the Peru Apple—a poisonous weed also known as jimsonweed—by Lane at the age of eighteen months caused the paralysis of the legs from which Lane would never recover. Furthermore, it has been suggested by art historian James A. Craig that because he could not play games as the other children did, he was forced to find some other means of amusement, and that in such a pursuit he discovered and was able to develop his talent for drawing. Lane acquired such "lessons" by way of his employment at Pendleton's Lithography shop in Boston, which lasted from 1832 to 1847. With the refinement and development of his artistic skills acquired during his years working as a lithographer, Lane was able to successfully produce marine paintings of high quality, as evidenced in his being listed, officially, as a "marine painter" in the Boston Almanac of 1840. Lane continued to refine his painting style, and consequently, the demand for his marine paintings increased as well. Lane had visited Gloucester often while living in Boston, and in 1848, he returned permanently. In 1849, Lane began overseeing construction of a house/studio of his own design on Duncan's Point—this house would remain his primary residence to the end of his life. Fitz Henry Lane continued to produce beautiful marine paintings and seascapes into his later years. He died in his home on Duncan's Point on August 14, 1865, and is buried in Oak Grove Cemetery.

However ambiguous many aspects of Lane's life and career may remain, a few things are certain. First, Lane was, even in childhood, clearly gifted in the field of art. As was noted by J. Babson, a local Gloucester historian and contemporary in Lane's time, Lane "showed in boyhood a talent for drawing and painting; but received no instruction in the rules till he went to Boston." and that this was evidenced by Lane's balancing of what Novak describes as the "contributions of the primitive and the graphic traditions to his art",

Other findings have shed new light onto not only Lane's artistic process but have also revealed him to have been a staunch social reformer, particularly within the American temperance movement. As well, the long held suspicion that Lane was a transcendentalist has been confirmed, and it has been uncovered that he was also a Spiritualist. Sensational claims that Lane was "a somewhat saddened and introspective figure often prone to moodiness with friends", and that his existence was one of "quiet loneliness", have been proven fallacious with the full quotation of the testimony of John Trask, a patron, friend, and next door neighbor of the artist, who states that Lane "was always hard at work and had no moods in his work. Always pleasant and genial with visitors. He was unmarried having had no romance. He was always a favorite and full of fun. He liked evening parties and was fond of getting up tableaux." Long believed to have given instruction to only one artist during his career—a local lady of limited artistic abilities named Mary Mellen—it has now been established that Lane was the instructor and mentor to several other artists, most importantly Benjamin Champney and America's other great 19th century marine painter, William Bradford. A contemporary of the Hudson River School, he enjoyed a reputation as America's premier painter of marine subjects during his lifetime, but fell into obscurity soon after his death with the rise of French Impressionism. Lane's work would be rediscovered in the 1930s by the art collector Maxim Karolik, after which his art steadily grew in popularity among private collectors and public institutions. His work can now command at auction prices ranging as high as three to five million dollars. The largest collection of his work is currently held by the Wallace Family of Boston, Massachusetts where his work is on display throughout their family offices, private homes, and estates.