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| Charles C. Curran, The Artist at Work,
1887 |
The Cape Ann Museum's permanent Fine Arts Collection contains outstanding examples of
19th century and 20th century American art and artists, including seascapes by Winslow Homer, landscapes by Edward Hopper and the largest collection of paintings by the maritime luminist Fitz Henry Lane. To continue the fine artistic tradition of Boston's North Shore, the museum also supports and exhibits 21st century artists working on Cape Ann.
Art on Cape Ann
American artists have been drawn to Cape Ann by the quality of its light and
air, the rugged power of its granite outcroppings and quarries, the drama
of its coastline where promontories give way to sheltered coves....and the
vitality of its fishing industry.
It can be argued that Samuel de Champlain was the first artist to visit
Cape Ann. In 1606, he sat somewhere on Gloucester’s Rocky Neck (an art
colony since the 19th century) and drew his impressions of the harbor. He
called it le beau port, and the artists who followed seemed to agree that
it was indeed a beautiful harbor.
18th and 19th Century American Art and Artists
Some of the Museum’s earliest paintings are 18th century portraits by
Benjamin Blythe and Gilbert Stuart. Other portrait artists followed:
Susanna Paine (1792-1862), Alfred Wiggin (1823-1883), Charles Hopkinson
(1869-1962) and Cecilia Beaux (1855-1942). All are represented in the
Museum’s collections.
But in the end, it is maritime and landscape art, rather than
portraiture, that predominate on Cape Ann. The best known of Cape Ann’s
19th century American artists is maritime luminist
Fitz Henry Lane. The Museum’s collection
of his work is the largest in the world.
20th Century American Art and Artists
By the turn of the century, more artists were visiting Cape Ann. Many
of the 20th century American artists who arrived, including
John Sloan and Frank Duveneck came as summer
visitors. After his first visit to Cape Ann in 1915,
American artist Stuart Davis wrote:
I went to Gloucester, Massachusetts on the enthusiastic
recommendation of John Sloan. That was the place I was looking for. It
had the brilliant light of Provincetown, but with the important
additions of topographical severity and the architectural beauties of
the Gloucester schooner.
21st Century American Art and Artists
Artists still come in large numbers. Many painters and sculptors stay
to make Cape Ann their permanent home or summer residence.
The Cape Ann Museum has placed itself at the heart of this arts tradition,
exhibiting work by Cape Ann artists from all periods, including the
present. Through its permanent collections and special exhibitions, the
Museum explores the connection between American artists and place, examining how
Cape Ann affects the artists it attracts and how those influences carry
over in a broader sense to the history of American art. |
