Posted on 03/28/2005 8:43:46 PM PST by nuconvert
Antarctic Oil Painting Shrouded in Mystery
Mon Mar 28, 2005
By MATT APUZZO/ Associated Press Writer
NEW HAVEN, Conn. - As art restorers in London inspected a 230-year-old painting by master landscape artist William Hodges, they noticed the canvas was thicker in some areas than others.
Using an X-ray machine, they peered behind the lush greens of New Zealand and discovered the oldest known painting of Antarctica.
The X-ray revealed two icebergs, painted during Captain James Cook's historic expedition below the Antarctic circle. Until the National Maritime Museum in London made the discovery last year, historians believed that only sketches of the frozen continent had been produced.
"In the history of art, there's nothing comparable," said Angus Trumble, curator at the Yale Center for British Art, where the Hodges painting and the accompanying X-ray are on temporary display for their only U.S. appearance.
The discovery ignited a discussion over why Hodges endured frigid temperatures, fog and wind to capture the first image of the frozen continent, only to paint over it months later.
Cook had set out in 1772 to discover "Terra Australis Incognita," the mythical southern continent. Hodges was aboard the HMS Resolution to document the voyage, on which Cook spent nearly four months circumnavigating Antarctica.
"It put the final nail in the coffin that there wasn't a big land mass there suitable for commercial exploitation," said Brian Sandford, head of the U.S. chapter of the Captain Cook Society.
Painting the polar landscape would have made sense, experts agree, as it had never been seen before. And forensic analysis showed that Hodges took the time to complete the work. Yet when the Resolution left Antarctica and made its first stop in New Zealand, Hodges immediately turned on his iceberg canvas and painted his "View in Pickersgill Harbour, Dusky Bay Sound, New Zealand."
One theory is that the brutal weather destroyed some of Hodges' supplies, forcing him to reuse a canvas. Others suggest the bleak polar landscape didn't fit the popular style.
"Perhaps he said, 'Who paints icebergs?'" Isabel Stuebe, a Hodges biographer and scholar, said. "It wouldn't have met the standards for classic landscape composition. There was nothing in the foreground. It was more of a record of something as a scene rather than an artistic composition."
Or maybe four months in Antarctic waters were enough to make Hodges want to erase the artistic record of such a a perilous voyage.
"In a way, it's very understandable for Hodges to immediately be determined to paint this lush safe haven of New Zealand," Trumble said.
The painting, which is part of the traveling exhibit "William Hodges, 1744-1797: The Art of Exploration," is on display at Yale until April 24. It then moves to the Auckland Art Gallery in New Zealand.
Fascinating GGG ping
" As art restorers in London inspected a 230-year-old painting by master landscape artist William Hodges, they noticed the canvas was thicker in some areas than others.
Using an X-ray machine, they peered behind the lush greens of New Zealand and discovered the oldest known painting of Antarctica.
The X-ray revealed two icebergs, painted during Captain James Cook's historic expedition below the Antarctic circle. Until the National Maritime Museum in London made the discovery last year, historians believed that only sketches of the frozen continent had been produced. "
Thanks for posting the link for the paintings.
Thanks
Blowing it up, it STILL looks like a person clinging or climbing the sheer side of the left 'iceberg', which looks like a cliff.
Makes me wonder just how certain they are that these are icebergs.
Fascinating story, nuconvert. Thanks for posting it.
"This is an X-ray, provided by the Yale Center for British Art, of an image beneath William Hodges' painting entitled 'View in Pickersgill Harbour, Dusky Bay Sound, New Zealand,' which is currently on temporary display at the center in New London, Conn. Experts believe this image shows the oldest known painting of Antarctica, painted during Captain James Cook's exploration there. (AP Photo/Yale Center for British Art) "
Oh, oops! Sorry for the mistake.
It's a beautiful painting. Thanks for posting it.
Isn't it amazing that the article doesn't give you the title of the actual painting?
It does:
. . . Hodges immediately turned on his iceberg canvas and painted his "View in Pickersgill Harbour, Dusky Bay Sound, New Zealand."
I missed it! Thanks.
Thanks for that link...have bookmarked for further enjoyable 'looking at'...took a short glance, but will explore further later on...I cannot draw any better than a toddler, so I always enjoy looking art, such as on that website...again, thanks...
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