Curio

State Library of New South Wales
Resolution and Discovery in the Arctic Sea, 1781

Resolution and Discovery in the Arctic Sea, 1781

Resolution and Discovery in the Arctic Sea, 1781

Thomas Luny (1759–1837)

Oil painting

ML 402


British artist Thomas Luny based this work on sketches by John Webber, expedition artist on Cook’s third voyage. The painting depicts the activities of the Resolution and Discovery in the Arctic Sea between 11 August and 3 September 1778. A Thomas Luny sketchbook held by the National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, contains three preliminary drawings dated 1781 for the painting (the expedition had returned to England in 1780).  


The Resolution impressed Cook greatly and he called her "the ship of my choice", the fittest for service of any I have seen".


‘I who had Ambition not only to go farther than any one had done before, but as far as it was possible for man to go ...’

James Cook, 30 January 1774, upon reaching 71 degrees 10 minutes south latitude, from Cook’s manuscript journal kept on HMS Resolution during his second voyage. 


John Webber was twenty-four years old when he was offered a place as expedition artist with Captain James Cook on his third voyage of exploration to the Pacific.


Luny was a pupil of the celebrated Thameside artist, Francis Holman, who trained him in the discipline of marine art.