Lumber Schooners at Evening on Penobscot Bay

1863

Oil on canvas, 62.6 × 96.8 cm. National Gallery of Art, Washington

A schooner stacked with lumber rests on a calm bay in Maine as the evening sky turns pink. The tiny crew and a far-off ship leave most of the canvas to sky and water.

First exhibited in 1963–64 in Maine and Its Artists, shown at Colby College, the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, and the Whitney.
Look at the four small sailors on deck working the sails.
Lane used thin, see-through glazes instead of thick paint, so his brushwork is hard to see.
The National Gallery sets this stillness against the more explosive style of Cole and Church. It links Lane's quiet, self-effacing method to Emerson's idea that artists should let nature speak through them.
Given to the National Gallery in 1980 by Mr. and Mrs. Francis W. Hatch, Sr.

Luminism: A later name for American landscapes of about 1850–1875 marked by still water, soft light and hidden brushwork.

Image: National Gallery of Art, Washington (open access) · CC0