The Art of Exploration: European and American artistic responses to exploration 1750-1860

The Art of Exploration examines the relationship between art and science from the m1d-e1ghteenth to the mid-nineteenth centuries within the context of the global impact of Cook's three voyages to the Pacific. The artistss travelling with Cook had a considerable influence on the visual culture of science, particularly through their ensuing publications. The voyages set a model for the exped1t1ons of other colonial and post-colonial nations and helped contribute to the formation of natronal identit1es. This was particularly true of the Lewis and Clark expedition, the bi-centenary of which is to be celebrated in 2004.

The Art of Exploration will not just focus on Bnt1sh art, but will look at the art of private and government sponsored expiditionary science across continents and oceans. It will discuss how the art of exploration was exhibited and received within the artistic establishment and how it became an essential medium for the disseminat1on of navigational and scientific knowledge.

The conference complements a major exhibition of William Hodges' work, which will open at the National Maritime Museum in July 2004. The exhibition, also supported by the Paul Mellon Centre, will bring together many of his finest and most important paintings from the Pacific, India and Britain for the first time. Keynote Speakers are Sir David Attenborough and Professor David Bindman.