This meticulously curated museum makes an excellent introduction to Cape Ann's history and artists. If you're visiting on a weekend, a guided tour of the highlights of the collection (Fri-Sat 11am, Sun 2pm) will help you get your bearings. An entire gallery holds extraordinary works by Fitz Henry Lane (formerly known as Fitz Hugh Lane), the Luminist painter whose light-flooded canvases show off the best of his native Gloucester. The nation's largest collection of his paintings and drawings is here. Other galleries feature works on paper by 20th-century artists such as Maurice Prendergast, Milton Avery, and Stuart Davis; work by other contemporary artists; and granite-quarrying tools and equipment. There's also an outdoor sculpture court. On display in the maritime and fisheries galleries are entire vessels (including one about the size of a minivan that crossed the Atlantic), exhibits on the fishing industry, ship models, and historic photographs and models of the Gloucester waterfront. Check ahead for information about touring the museum's two historic houses: The adjacent Capt. Elias Davis House (1804), decorated and furnished in Federal style with furniture, silver, and porcelains; and the 1710 White-Ellery House, a rare example of First Period architecture about a mile away at 244 Washington St.
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