LYNN, MASS. - What started in 1991 as an initiative of The Massachusetts Painters Project of the Vose Archive, Inc., has resulted in an impressive exhibition and catalogue, and in the formal recognition of a distinctive group of coastal New England painters.

Through April 16, the cumulative benefits of the inquiry are on display at the Lynn Museum. After closing at the museum's galleries at 125 Green Street, "The Lynn Beach Painters: Art Along the North Shore 1880-1920" will travel to Heritage Plantation in Sandwich, Mass., where it remains from May 17 to October 23.

The presentation jointly acknowledges for the first time seven artists of the 1880s and 1890s: Nathaniel L. Berry, Edward Burrill, William Partridge Burpee, C.E.L. Green, T. Clark Oliver, Edward A. Page and Charles H. Woodbury. Shaped by local event and custom, but dramatically stimulated by progressive French and Dutch painting, they depicted working beaches and trafficked waters from Revere to Marblehead.

William Bradford and his teacher, Albert Van Beest, first painted the shoreline, marshes and fish shacks of Lynn, Swampscott and Nahant as early as the 1850s. By 1870, when the Mandatory Drawing Act was passed in Massachusetts, Lynn's artistic life had widened considerably.

The state's second largest town, a shoemaking capital and seaside resort, was a center for arts patronage. Residents supported shopfront exhibitions, attended auctions and, in 1876, helped found the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.

Organized in response to the Mandatory Drawing Act, the Lynn Evening Drawing School offered free public instruction. Intended in part as vocational training for immigrants, the classes brought local artists together to share notes, then gallery and studio space. Four of the Lynn Beach Painters were instructors at the school.

Most were also members of the Boston Art Club, ten miles away in the nation's art capital. Says Lynn Museum director Kenneth C. Turino, "Through it they were exposed to Monet. They Lynn Beach Painters were among the first American artists to see Impressionism."

The term "Lynn Beach Painters" was coined by D. Roger Howlett, an art historian, fine arts dealer and author of The Lynn Beach Painters: Art Along The North Shore 1880-1920. In the catalogue accompanying the exhibition, Howlett, who has long been interested in William Partridge Burpee, writes, "I became convinced that there was more than a passing similarity in the works of Burpee and six of his contemporaries who painted along the shore just north of Boston in the 1880s and the 1890s."

Several seminal studies pointed the direction for further inquiry. In addition to Howlett's research on Burpee, published by Copley Square Press in 1991, organizers referred to studies of Nathaniel L. Berry by Kathy Wrynn; C.E.L. Green by John Hardy Wright and Frederic Alan Sharf, the later an important collector of North Shore paintings; and Charles Woodbury by Joan Loria and Warren Seamens. Woodbury, the founder of the Ogunquit art colony in Maine and the best known of the Lynn Beach Painters, was additionally honored this past summer in catalogues published by the Ogunquit Museum of Art and by Maine auctioneer George Young.

Kenneth Turino's first exposure to the group was in 1980, when the Essex Institute mounted a retrospective of the work of C.E.L. Green. The exhibit marked the beginning of the current revival, and planted a seed of inspiration that was realized when Turino became director of what was then the Lynn Historical Society in 1986.

"Nine years ago," Turino explains, "we got a call from the Vose Archives. They were identifying all artists born in certain Massachusetts counties before 1900. Lynn was chosen. They gave us a grant to go through our collections and records, and to bring an art historian on board. He was Roger Howlett."

The grant required that Howlett write a brochure and deliver a lecture. Both activities stimulated further interest in the Lynn Beach Painters, which lead to the book and the exhibition. Howlett was instrumental in helping to secure everything from funding for the project to a printer in Hong Kong.

Much subsequent research was undertaken by Lynn Museum curator Heather Johnson Reid, who wrote catalogue entries and compiled useful artists' biographies. "The Boston Art Club records were very helpful," the scholar recalls. "We also went through newspapers of the day to see what was being shown in Lynn. We checked out an old train schedule. It was faster to take the train to Boston then than it is today! The artists were able to go in, look at an exhibit, have lunch, and be home to attend drawing school. Looking at art was very much part of their progression."

The Lynn Museum, which only recently changed its name, makes its home an 1836 house that was expanded in the 1920s. In addition to four Eighteenth Century period rooms, it has a skylit wing with two floors of changing exhibitions. "The Lynn Beach Painters" occupies the top floor.

Under Reid's watchful eye, 52 paintings were hung against walls painted a deep Chinese red. "The sight of all those gold frames against the red is pretty impressive," the curator says. "We chose a color that was like the salons of France. We wanted people to understand that these artists were seeing this kind of work."

She continues, "The show is in one gallery. What's nice is that you see all the paintings in one fell swoop. We limited wall text to large panels summarizing the major ideas. For instance, one panel is on the Swampscott dory, a boat that was often depicted. Another panel talks about the working beach. You see scenes of harvesting seaweed or pulling in the nets. There is a panel on favorite painting spots, such as Blaney Beach and Egg Rock, and one on the early history of marine painting in this area."

The paintings, which show many influences, range from Barbizon to Impressionist in style and palette. Chosen for the catalogue's cover is C.E.L. Green's "Lynn Beach From Nahant," an evocative shore scene of circa 1900. Throughout the exhibit, paintings are accompanied by period photographs of the same settings from the Lynn Museum's extensive archives.

Reproduced on a smaller scale are two exhibition highlights, "Shore View, Swampscott" by W.P. Burpee and "Shore View, Swampscott-Lynn" by Charles H. Woodbury, both of 1888. "The same theme, painted the same year, by two different artists. The juxtaposition is wonderful," marvels Turino. The works were borrowed from the Farnsworth Library and Art Museum and from the collection of Ann P. Vose.

"In their day, these painters did quite well," Turino notes. "Several sent work to the National Academy of Design in New York. Woodbury's reputation was massive when he died in 1940. But his reputation dropped."

Since 1980, regional exhibitions have boosted both reputations and prices. "They are a good group of painters, and still not terribly expensive," reflects North Berwick, Me., auctioneer George Young. "The all-time record for Woodbury is around $96,000, but a typical Woodbury sells for $2,000 to $10,000. Sometimes the little beach scenes go for $10,000 to $15,000." Adds Beverly, Mass., auctioneer Frank Kaminski, "I appraised a collection of C.E.L. Greens. They ranged from $4,500 to $11,500. Pages bring $3,500 to $5,000."

"There could be arguments that the Lynn Beach Painters did not exist as a group," Howlett writes. "There could also be arguments for the inclusion of at least a few other painters in the group; George Wasson, Clement Grant or Edward Stewart could each be added if more information on their Lynn paintings appeared."

"We worked on the project a good solid two years, and talked about it since I arrived four years ago," says Reid. "We delayed the exhibit by a year. I'm glad we did, because we found so much that was wonderful." Howlett, Turino and the curator agree that more work is needed. "The strong connection of Lynners to Boston arts organizations has not been, to my knowledge, mentioned before, nor have the Lynn art organizations such as Silas Barton's Gallery or the Lynn Art Club," writes Howlett, who urges the development of a list of names of a second generation of Lynn marine painters active through the 1950s. Adds Turino, "We hope to publish an article on the effect of the Mandatory Drawing Act on Lynn."

These ambitions aside, "The Lynn Beach Painters" has brought a new audience to a town once famous for its stunning coastal landscape. "The paintings are accomplished and beautiful," says Turino. He adds, "The Monet show just closed at the MFA, Boston. We've had several visitors tell us they'd seen both shows, but liked the Lynn Beach Painters better."

On February 11, D. Roger Howlett will lecture on "Picturesque Beaches and Itinerant Artists: At Home And Abroad With The Lynn Beach Painters." The talk will explore the destinations that most attracted the Lynn painters, particularly New Lynn, England, where a local variety of Barbizon-style painting flourished. Several Lynn painters also traveled to Holland. Howlett's lecture will start at 8 pm at the Lynn Heritage State Park . The snow date is February 18.

The Lynn Museum is open Monday through Saturday from 1 to 4 pm at 125 Green Street. Telephone 781/592-2465. Lynn Beach Painters: Art Along The North Shore 1880-1920 sells for $35 hardcover, $20 softcover, and may be ordered through the museum. The hardcover edition is additionally distributed by Northeastern University Press in Boston.