Lot 21
  • 21

FRANÇOIS ETIENNE MUSIN | HMS Resolute in Search of Sir John Franklin

Estimate
80,000 - 120,000 GBP
Log in to view results
bidding is closed

Description

  • François Etienne Musin
  • HMS Resolute in Search of Sir John Franklin
  • signed f. musin. lower right; authenticated, described, and signed and dated 12 Avril 1850 on the reverse
  • oil on canvas
  • 78 by 128cm., 30¾ by 50¼in.

Provenance

Mrs F. Smith (by 1870)
Acquired by the grandfather of the present owners before 1990; thence by descent

Exhibited

Bradford, Great Horton, Art Treasures and Industrial Exhibition, 1870, no. 289 (as Search for Sir John Franklin)

Literature

Patrick & Viviane Berko, 19th Century European Virtuoso Painters, Knokke-Het Zout, 2011, p. 242, catalogued & illustrated (as Captain Austin's Expedition to the North Pole in 1850 [sic])

Condition

The canvas has not been lined and is securely attached to a keyed wooden stretcher which appears of later date. There is a fine stretcher mark corresponding to the vertical stretcher member in the centre of the composition, and there is a fine pattern of hairline craquelure in the sky. However, this is mostly visible only upon close inspection and is not distracting to the naked eye. Inspection under ultra-violet light reveals an area of residual varnish within and around the signature, which is consistent with a previous surface cleaning. A circa 5 by 10cm U-shaped stroke of retouching is visible in the ice and across the tent in the lower right quadrant, and a circa 5cm vertical stroke is visible in the ice below the ship's bow. Possibly addressing old tears, these have been patched on the reverse with a circa 10 by 25cm linen patch. Clusters of minor, cosmetic lines of retouching are also visible in the far upper left corner. Overall, this work is in good condition, presents very well and is ready to hang. Presented in a decorative gilt frame. Colours are somewhat brighter in real life than in the catalogue illustration.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

Catalogue Note

'No service is nearer to my heart than the accomplishment of a Northwest passage'
Sir John Franklin Painted in April 1850, the present work vividly brings to life one leading mission in the heroic search for British explorer Sir John Franklin. At that time the explorer and his crew aboard HMS Erebus and Terror were understood to be in difficulty in the Canadian Arctic, however their whereabouts remained unknown. Led by the Admiralty and championed energetically by Lady Franklin herself, numerous searches for Franklin were conducted from the western and eastern coasts of Canada. Still optimistic, in 1850 a squadron of four vessels commanded by HMS Resolute (depicted here) was dispatched, using dog sleds and even primitive hydrogen balloons with messages attached. Unbeknownst to those at home, Franklin had already died some three years earlier. Franklin’s expedition, the countless searches led to find him, and later the tragic fate that befell the men caught the imagination of the Romantic movement, finding their most shocking depiction in Edwin Landseer’s Man Proposes, God Disposes of 1864 (fig. 1).

Having joined the Royal Navy at the age of 14, John Franklin served in the Battle of Trafalgar and subsequently became one of the most famous names in polar exploration. In 1818 he was commander of the Trent, with orders to sail to the North Pole and thence into the Northwest passage from the Bering Strait, searching for a route which would connect trade between the Atlantic and Pacific via the Arctic. Exploration in the region went back to the days of the Venetian John Cabot some 320 years earlier, and by the early 19th century finding the Northwest passage was one of the great challenges remaining for explorers. Knighted in 1829, Franklin was a founding member of the Geographical Society in London, a recipient of the Gold Medal from the Société de Géographie of France, and a natural choice to lead the new expedition in 1845.

Franklin’s ships were last seen by a whaler off Baffin Bay in August 1845, and they had enough supplies to last until summer 1848 – longer than the two summers thought necessary for the exploration of the Northwest passage. It is perhaps not surprising that John Ross’s initial offer to search for Franklin in January 1847 was rebuffed by the Admiralty, who countered that they had ‘unlimited confidence in the skills and resources of Sir John Franklin’. Shortly afterwards traces of Franklin’s expedition began to be found and the graves of three of the crew, who had died in early 1846, were discovered on Beechey Island.

The Admiralty abandoned its search in January 1854, The Times declaring that the expeditions were by now ‘wasting time upon a search for dead men’s bones’. Lady Franklin nevertheless continued to fund missions in search of her husband and his crew, defending them against lurid rumours of cannibalism and seeking proof that their exploration had not been in vain. Although none of Franklin’s crew was rescued alive, numerous traces were found (and later exhibited in London), and the missions produced valuable information which helped map northern Canada.

In one sense the search for Franklin never truly ended. The three graves on Beechey Island were exhumed in the 1980s and the bodies found in a miraculous state of preservation. Designated a National Historic Site of Canada in 1992, the wrecks of Franklin’s ships HMS Erebus and Terror were discovered only recently, in 2014 and 2016 respectively off King William Island. As climate change disrupts ice in the Arctic, the North-West passage has today become navigable for small ships.

As for HMS Resolute, she returned in autumn 1851, and was sent out again in spring the next year in what the Admiralty planned as one final search. Ice-bound, Resolute and her squadron had to be abandoned in 1854, however she was later found drifting some 1,000 miles east in the Davis Strait. Discovered by an American whaler, the ship was refitted and presented as a gift to Britain. The Resolute desk, later made from the ship’s timbers, is now in the White House where it has been used by US presidents.

Born in Ostend, Musin came to public prominence as a marine painter in 1840, and went on to enjoy a highly successful international career. His success among collectors in Britain led him to stay in the country until 1849. Only another other similar subject is known: HMS Erebus in the Ice, in the National Maritime Museum, Greenwich. The work was acquired by Sir James Caird in 1930, and bequeathed along with his collection to the museum which he had a key role in founding. The work was a highlight of the recent exhibition on Franklin Death in the Ice, held at the Maritime Museum in 2017-18.