Art Section III

What happened in 1492?

Christopher Columbus landed in the Caribbean

Where did Columbus embark from and where was he trying to go?

Spain to Asia

What happened as a consequence of Columbus' journey?

Centuries of colonization and cultural exchange

Which countries tried to control resources in the New World?

France, Spain, England, and Portugal

How was art an important part of imperial projects?

It prompted exploration of territories, presented national narratives, and reflects on the legacies of global expansion

What change was caused by the construction of the Panama Canal?

It allowed ships to pass through the narrowest point of Central America

What did European sailors do centuries before the Panama Canal was created?

They searched for a shorter water route from the Atlantic to Pacific Ocean

Where did Europeans think the alternate route would be?

North of Canada

What was the longer route to go from the Atlantic to the Pacific?

Sailing around Cape Horn at the tip of South America

What was the potential shorter route called?

Northwest Passage

Why did Britain want to find the Northwest Passage?

It would enable traders to purchase goods from Asia quickly

What did Inuit oral traditions reveal?

There was a water route that could be traversed by canoe

Who was Martin Frobisher?

The first British explorer who tried to find the Northwest Passage

When did Frobisher set sail?

In the 1570s

How many times did Frobisher fail?

3 times

What does the painting The North-West Passage depict?

The hope and tragedy that the search for the Northwest passage represented for Britons

Where and when was Sir John Everett Millais born?

Southampton in 1829

What did Millais achieve when he was 11?

He became the youngest student ever accepted to the Royal Academy of Art

Why was the Royal Academy of Art significant?

It had been the premier location for young British and American artists to learn painting and drawing since 1768

When did Millais make his debut and at what event?

1846 at the annual Academy exhibition

What was Millais' initial work for exhibit?

Pizarro Seizing the Inca of Peru

Who did Millais meet at the Royal Academy?

William Holman Hunt

Besides Millais and Hunt, what other painter formed the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood?

Dante Gabriel Rossetti

When was the Brotherhood formed?

1848

What exactly was the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood?

A group of progressive young English artists who rejected the Academy's teachings

What did the Brotherhood's name refer to?

The desire to return art to a time before the High Renaissance embodied by Raphael Sanzio

What did the Brotherhood think about Renaissance art?

It was too formulaic and idealizing

What aspects of Renaissance art did the Brotherhood reject?

Linear perspective and Renaissance proportion

What aesthetic did the Brotherhood favor?

A quasi-medieval aesthetic that included minute detail and saturated color

How did the Brotherhood reject idealism?

They used close observation, represented things as they really appeared, and did not shy away from imperfection, age, or decay

When was the work of the Brotherhood first exhibited?

1848

What was the Brotherhood;s art criticized for?

Awkward and flat-looking figures, unusual color choices, and un-idealized details

Who was a prominent supporter of the Pre-Raphaelite movement?

John Ruskin, the most influential nineteenth century art critic

What is one of Millais' most well-known works of the Pre-Raphaelite style?

Ophelia (1852)

How did Millais' art style change later in his career?

It went from highly detailed to more brushy and loose

What did Millais receive in 1885?

A baronetcy from Queen Victoria

What did Millais achieve in 1896?

He was elected President of the Royal Academy

What does The North-West Passage reference?

Britain's naval power and its main character's experience as a sailor

Who is depicted in the painting?

An older man sitting at a desk and a young woman on a low stool beneath him

What can be seen through the window?

A sailboat passing by the house in calm waters

What is on the table?

Books and papers, a glass of spirits, a telescope, and a dish holding a lemon

What would the lemon be a reference to?

Sailors replenishing vitamin C with fresh fruit

Who is depicted in the framed print?

Admiral Horatio Nelson

Who was Horatio Nelson?

A major naval commander during the Napoleonic Wars

What is depicted in the other framed image?

A painting of a ship crossing an Arctic sea

What partially covers the painting of the ship?

The British flag and a white naval ensign flag

What is the man in the painting looking away from?

A Portolan chart of the Canadian coastline

What might the girl be reading?

A maritime log

What themes and historical references can be seen in The North-West Passage?

A family drama of loss and worry and historical issues of empire and exploration

Where and when did The North-West Passage debut?

The Royal Academy in 1874

What exhibition was the painting a part of?

The English art exhibition at the 1878 Paris world's fair

What gallery acquired the painting and when?

The National Gallery of British Art in 1897

How did Alison Smith describe the painting?

One of the defining images of British imperial heroism

What signal flag message did Admiral Nelson famously send?

England expects that every man will do his duty

In which battle did Nelson die?

Battle of Trafalgar

Who was the model for the old mariner in the painting?

Edward John Trelawney

What was Trelawney's background?

He was a veteran of the Royal Navy and served at Trafalgar

What elements of the painting set a patriotic tone?

The image of Nelson and the flags in the upper right

What did John Guille Millais write regarding the painting?

It was an eloquent expression of the nation's desire to reveal the mystery of the North

Why did finding the Northwest Passage become increasingly important for Britain?

The British Empire expanded in the late eighteenth and nineteenth centuries

What stories prompted exploration voyages?

Stories of a sea route through the small islands of the north Canadian archipelago

What disaster happened in 1845?

The Admiralty lost touch with an expedition led by Sir John Franklin

Who was Sir John Franklin?

An experienced colonial administrator and explorer

What had happened to the expedition?

The HMS Erebus and HMS Terror got trapped in polar ice and were abandoned by their crews

What did search parties fail to find?

The remains of the ships or the survivors

What was the widely reported outcome of the expedition by 1854?

All 129 men on the mission had died

What did the failed expedition lead to?

Many plays, poems, popular songs, and major works of art

What work did Edwin Landseer exhibit?

Man Proposes, God Disposes (1864)

What did Man Proposes, God Disposes depict?

Polar bears in the wreckage of a sailing ship

What play did Charles Dickens and Wilkie Collins write?

The Frozen Deep (1856)

What short story did Sir Arthur Conan Doyle publish in 1883?

The Captain of the 'Pole-Star'

What was The Captain of the 'Pole-Star' about?

A ship that becomes trapped in polar ice

What are the father and daughter in The North-West Passage concerned about?

The fate of a loved one who has not yet returned from his mission

What details suggest the danger of global exploration?

The framed image of a ship in ice and the old sailor's haunted stare

How did contemporary viewers feel about the Northwest Passage?

They were in favor of the search for the Passage

What was the caption for the Royal Academy catalog entry for the painting?

It might be done, and England should do it

When did another Arctic expedition occur?

1875

Who led the 1875 expedition?

George Strong Nares

How was Millais involved in the expedition?

He met the sailors before they departed

When did the first non-Inuit person successfully navigate the Northwest Passage by water?

1905

Who discovered the Northwest Passage?

Roald Amundsen

What was Amundsen's nationality?

Norwegian

What does Millais' painting make plain?

Sacrifices would be necessary to cement British naval dominance in a globalizing and interconnected world

What did the painting represent?

A statement of British naval power and a positive view of the possibilities of colonial exploration

What did Millais fail to do, along with most of his English peers?

Consider issue of colonization from the perspective of the colonized

What have artists from the former British Empire done in the twenty-first century?

Push back on colonial narratives and inquire about the legacies of the British Empire

What form of art is in Pursuit of Venus [infected]?

Video installation

When was in Pursuit of Venus [infected] first exhibited?

2012

What was the original title?

in Pursuit of Venus

What does the video represent?

Customary lifeways throughout the Pacific Ocean world against a backdrop of unspoiled nature

What was included in later versions of the video?

Images of contact between Indigenous people and white sailors

What does the addition of [infected] signify?

The fact that once people have encountered each other, history is changed forever

What story does Reihana tell?

British and French exploration in the Pacific

When was Lisa Reihana born?

1964

Where was Reihana born?

Auckland, New Zealand

What are Reihana's professions?

Filmmaker, photographer, performance artist

What art collective is Reihana a member of?

Pacific Sisters

What has Reihana been known for since the 1990s?

Her use of digital media to create work that examines and re-frames histories of empire

What aspect of Reihana's identity influences her work?

Her identity as a Māori woman

Who are the Māori?

The Indigenous people of New Zealand