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Catalogue Entry

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Photo: Courtesy of Lapham & Dipple Gallery, Inc.
inv. 269
View of Baltimore
Alternate titles: Baltimore from Federal Hill; View of Baltimore from Federal Hill
1850
Oil on canvas
18 5/8 x 27 5/8 in. (47.3 x 70.2 cm)
No inscription found
Unknown Owner, Purchased from Lapham and Dibble, Inc., 2004
Commentary

This painting was presumably taken from the lithograph by Lane View of Baltimore, from Federal Hill, 1850 (inv. 493). Lane drew this scene in 1849-50 from the grassy heights of Federal Hill, on the southeast side of Baltimore’s City Basin, looking north by west to the oldest part of the city. As is typical of Lane’s city views, there is an active foreground, in this case well-dressed citizens strolling on the heights. Of particular note is the intermingling of black and white citizens in what appears a harmonious Sunday gathering on equal footing, likely an unusual sight for Lane that he made a point to document. It is the only depiction of African Americans we know of by Lane except for a single dockworker in "Starlight" in Harbor, c.1855 (inv. 249).

In the painting Lane has lowered his vantage point from that of the lithograph and enlarged both the foreground activity and the buildings on the distant shore. He has also put a shadow across some of the foreground creating a stronger and more dramatic composition than the lithograph.

– Sam Holdsworth

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Historical Materials

Below is historical information related to the Lane work above. To see complete information on a subject on the Historical Materials page, click on the subject name (in bold and underlined).
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Other Locales: Baltimore, Md.
View related Fitz Henry Lane catalog entries (3) »

Very little is known about Lane's connections to Baltimore, however, in 1850 he did make one lithograph and several paintings. Additionally, the Maryland Historical Society exhibition catalog for 1856 lists a drawing owned by a "Mr. Lucas."

map
U. S. Coast Survey chart "Approaches to Baltimore, Maryland"
NOAA Historic Chart Collection
Western and eastern sheets, digitally joined. 1866 (western half) and 1867-68 (eastern half).

On this chart, the heavily outlined city blocks indicate buildings added since the 1845 chart.

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map
U. S. Coast Survey Map of Baltimore Harbor & City
NOAA Historic Chart Collection
1845 (complete)

The heavily outlined city blocks indicate buildings standing at time of survey.

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Provenance (Information known to date; research ongoing.)
Hirschl & Adler Galleries, New York
The Shelburne Museum, Shelburne, Vermont
Lapham and Dibble Gallery, Inc., New York, New York
Unknown Owner, Purchased from Lapham and Dibble, Inc., 2004
Exhibition History
1966 DeCordova Museum
DeCordova Museum, Lincoln, Massachusetts, Fitz Hugh Lane: The First Major Exhibition, March 20–April 17, 1966. (Wilmerding 1966a), no. 29. Traveled to: Colby College Art Museum, Waterville, Maine, April 30–June 6, 1966.
1969 Vermont Arts Council
Vermont Arts Council, Montpelier, Vermont, Art Out of the Attic, August 27–September 1969.
1984 University of Maryland
University of Maryland Art Gallery, College Park, Maryland, 350 Years of Art and Architecture in Maryland, October 26–December 9, 1984. (Exhibition catalogue: University of Maryland 1984).
1997 Maryland Historical Society
Maryland Historical Society, Baltimore, Baltimore, Inc.: From Mobtown to Charm City, May 14, 1997–February 28, 1999.
Published References
Wilmerding 1963
Wilmderding, John. "The Lithographs of Fitz Hugh Lane." Old-Time New England LIV, no. 2 (October–December 1963), p. 37.
Wilmerding 1964
Wilmerding, John. Fitz Hugh Lane, 1804–1865: American Marine Painter. Salem, MA: The Essex Institute, 1964. Exhibition catalogue (1964 Essex Institute), fig. 2, p. 43.
American Neptune 1965
The American Neptune, Pictorial Supplement VII: A Selection of Marine Paintings by Fitz Hugh Lane, 1804–1865. Salem, MA: The American Neptune, 1965, pl. XVIII, no. 44.
Wilmerding 1966a
Wilmerding, John. Fitz Hugh Lane: The First Major Exhibition. Lincoln, MA: De Cordova Museum; in association with Colby College Art Museum, 1966. Exhibition catalogue (1966 DeCordova Museum), no. 29.
Muller 1976
Muller, Nancy C. Paintings and Drawings at the Shelburne Museum. Shelburne, VT: Shelburne Museum, 1976, no. 191.
University of Maryland 1984
350 Years of Art and Architecture in Maryland. College Park, MD: University of Maryland, 1984. Exhibition catalogue (1984 University of Maryland).
Crossman 1985
Crossman, Carl L. "Lithographs of Fitz Hugh Lane." In American Maritime Prints, edited by Elton W. Hall. New Bedford, MA: The Whaling Museum by the Old Dartmouth Historical Society, 1987, p.82.
Cape Ann 1993
Training the Eye and the Hand: Fitz Hugh Lane and 19th Century Drawing Books. Gloucester, MA: Cape Ann Historical Association, 1993. Exhibition catalogue (1993–94 Cape Ann Museum), p. 20, as Baltimore from Federal Hill.
Wilmerding 2005
Wilmerding, John. Fitz Henry Lane. Gloucester, MA: Cape Ann Historical Association, 2005, ill. 17, text, p. 29, as View of Baltimore from Federal Hill.
Cape Ann Museum 2017
Barnhill, Trafton. Drawn from Nature & on Stone: the Lithographs of Fitz Henry Lane. Gloucester, MA: Cape Ann Museum, 2017. Exhibition catalogue (2017–18 Cape Ann Museum), fig. 64.
Related Historical Materials

Other Locales

Baltimore, Md.
Record last updated February 12, 2021. Please note that the information on this and all pages is periodically reviewed and subject to change.
Citation: "View of Baltimore, 1850 (inv. 269)." In Fitz Henry Lane Online. Gloucester, MA: Cape Ann Museum. www.fitzhenrylaneonline.org/catalogue/entry.php?id=269 (accessed on August 2, 2025).