Fitz H. Lane: An Artist's Voyage through Nineteenth-Century America

by James A. Craig

Fitz H. Lane's maritime masterpieces are known throughout the world, but the man himself has eluded both historians and art critics for over a century.

The Luminist painter's successful career began in his early childhood in picturesque Gloucester, Massachusetts and his talents developed and matured over time, making him one of the nation's premier nineteenth-century artists.

Throughout his career, Lane painted with a vitality and attention to detail that was purely American at heart, and it is in pursuit of this ideal that James Craig embarks on a detective's investigation to reconstruct with accuracy and honesty the details of a man about whom much has been written but little revealed. Few clues remain today about the artist who so thoroughly embodied the American spirit during "one of humanity's most dramatic and confusing historical epochs." Lane's era was one of great change for America, and both he and his art were there to capture that spirit.

This dazzling and exhaustive effort provides the first glimpse behind the canvas, beyond the career and into the soul of Fitz H. Lane. Passionate, stunning and thrilling, this is a narrative that returns life and color to a man intent or preserving and presenting the life of the culture he loved. James Craig has given Gloucester back one of her favorite sons.

320 pages, Paperback

First published July 30, 2006