Discovery repaints Cook's passive death
By Mike Leidemann
Advertiser Staff Writer
A newly discovered 200-year-old picture showing Capt. James Cook fighting for his life in Hawai'i is grabbing attention in the art world for the way it shows the British explorer going to his death.
Honolulu Academy of Art
For years, most paintings and engravings of the event have depicted Cook trying to act as a peacemaker in his fatal 1779 encounter with Hawaiians at Kealakekua Bay, signaling his troops to hold fire while he is stabbed in the back.
This undated copy of the "Death of Cook" painting by John Cleveley, owned by the Honolulu Academy of Arts, shows Capt. James Cook turning his back on Hawaiians and signaling his troops to hold their fire.
The newly discovered John Cleveley watercolor, based on eyewitness accounts and found recently in an English home, shows Cook engaged in hand-to-hand combat with Hawaiians.
The discovery is unlikely to change scholarly opinion about Cook's relation to Pacific Islanders, but it does provide a fascinating glimpse into the way Western artists of the time tried to spin their version of the event to show Cook and other Europeans in a more favorable light.
The painting by Cleveley, whose brother was a carpenter on Cook's ship, is one of the few known pictures to show what historians generally believe is a more accurate account of Cook's death.
"Most of the images we have are romanticized pictures of Cook," said Jerome Feldman, a professor of art history at Hawai'i Pacific University. "This sounds like something that is much closer to the written record. It's nice to see a good clear image of what was really going on."
Of the dozens of paintings and engravings that began to circulate through Europe after the explorer's death, including the widely known images based on the "Death of Cook" by John Webber, only a handful hint at a violent Cook, historians said.
The Honolulu Academy of Arts even owns an undated copy of Cleveley's "Death of Cook" that shows the explorer turning his back to the Hawaiians instead of confronting them, as in the original. The 1784 original was copied many times in its early years by engravers — the only way a popular painting could be widely seen by the public.
Since the original was in private hands and unknown to scholars until the owners inquired this year about selling it, art historians had no way of knowing which copies were most accurate.
Many people who owned colorized versions of the early prints believed they had the original watercolor, said Nick Lambourn, a director of Christie's auction house in London. But when the British family who had held the painting since at least 1851 came forward this year, the auction house quickly took note.
"When the photographs showed the death of Cook incident was different, we immediately jumped in the car and rushed to see them," Lambourn told British newspapers this week.
The Age, Melbourne
Some Hawai'i scholars have long believed the popular paintings did not present an accurate picture of Cook's death.
The newly discovered original by Cleveley shows Capt. Cook fighting for his life. The painting, in private hands since the mid-1800s, will be auctioned by Christie's of London in September.
"It was really clear in the Hawaiian accounts that Captain Cook was a violent man from the very first landing in Kaua'i," said Noenoe Silva, a political science professor at the University of Hawai'i-Manoa.
Houston Wood, a Hawai'i Pacific University professor who has written a book that discusses various accounts of the death, said the discovery would add to the historical discussion. "It doesn't solve anything. It just makes everything more complicated," Wood said.
Bishop Museum Director William Brown said the discovery of the painting would give new historical perspective to the ongoing relationship between Pacific Islanders and Westerners. "It gives us another dimension to consider," Brown said.
Christie's plans to auction the Cleveley painting together with several associated works in September. They are expected to bring $200,000 to $300,000.
"It's exactly the type of work that should be in Hawai'i," Brown said. "I'd love to have someone organize the funds to buy the paintings and give them to the Bishop Museum."
Reach Mike Leidemann at 525-5460 or mleidemann@honoluluadvertiser.com. Advertiser staff writer Peter Boylan contributed to this report.
