Death of Cook

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One of the most famous reproductions of Cleveley's Death of Cook hangs at the Honolulu Academy of Arts. It depicts Captain Cook as a peacemaker.
One of the most famous reproductions of Cleveley's Death of Cook hangs at the Honolulu Academy of Arts. It depicts Captain Cook as a peacemaker.
The original painting by Cleveley was discovered in 2004 and depicts Captain Cook as a violent man. The painting proved some artists skewed history to show Europeans in favorable light.
The original painting by Cleveley was discovered in 2004 and depicts Captain Cook as a violent man. The painting proved some artists skewed history to show Europeans in favorable light.

Death of Cook is the name of several paintings depicting the 1779 death of British explorer and European discoverer of the Hawaiian Islands, Captain James Cook. Most of these paintings seem to go back to an original by John Cleveley the Younger, painted in 1784, although other versions, like that of John Webber, stood model for later copies too. Such artworks were reproduced in paint and engraving over the course of modern world history. The much more famous reproductions, like the one at the Honolulu Academy of Arts (allegedly based on the Cleveley version), often depicted Cook as a peacemaker trying to stop the fighting between his sailors and the native Hawaiians that they had challenged in combat.

However, in 2004, the original Cleveley painting was discovered in a private collection belonging to a family since 1851. Cleveley's brother was a member of Cook's crew, and the painting is said to concur with eyewitness accounts. The original depicted Cook involved in hand-to-hand combat with the native Hawaiians.[1] The discovery of the original painting has not changed the way historians think about Cook's relationship with the native Hawaiians, as Cook's violent nature was reported upon by his contemporaries.[2]

The original painting, worth approximately USD $200,000 to $300,000, was put up for auction by Christie's auction house in London, England.

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ Stevenson, Andrew. "Captain Cranky, portrait of an old explorer behaving badly", The Sydney Morning Herald, 2004-07-14. Retrieved on 2008-05-15. 
  2. ^ See Anne Salmond, The Trial of the Cannibal Dog: Captain Cook in the South Seas (New York: Viking, 2003). Also the violent Cook was depicted by George Carter (1737-1795) and his painting, 'The Death of Captain Cook' is in the Rex Nan Kivell Collection of the National Library of Australia (Canberra).