''Death of Cook'' is the name of several

painting Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called the "matrix" or "support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush, but other implements, such as knives, sponges, and ...

s depicting the 1779 death of the first European visitor to the

Hawaiian Islands The Hawaiian Islands ( haw, Nā Mokupuni o Hawai‘i) are an archipelago of eight major islands, several atolls, and numerous smaller islets in the North Pacific Ocean, extending some from the island of Hawaii in the south to northernmost Kur ...

Captain James Cook James Cook (7 November 1728 Old Style date: 27 October – 14 February 1779) was a British explorer, navigator, cartographer, and captain in the British Royal Navy, famous for his three voyages between 1768 and 1779 in the Pacific Ocean and ...

Kealakekua Bay Kealakekua Bay is located on the Kona coast of the island of Hawaii about south of Kailua-Kona. Settled over a thousand years ago, the surrounding area contains many archeological and historical sites such as religious temples (heiaus) and also ...

. Most of these paintings seem to go back to an original by

John Cleveley the Younger John Cleveley the Younger (24 December 1747 – 25 June 1786) was a British artist and marine painter. Life and work Cleveley was the son of John Cleveley the Elder. He and his twin brother Robert were both, like their father, marine painter ...

, painted in 1784, although other versions, like that of

John Webber John Webber (6 October 1751 – 29 May 1793) was an English artist who accompanied Captain Cook on his third Pacific expedition. He is best known for his images of Australasia, Hawaii and Alaska. Biography Webber was born in London, educated ...

, stood model for later copies too. Such artworks were reproduced in

paint Paint is any pigmented liquid, liquefiable, or solid mastic composition that, after application to a substrate in a thin layer, converts to a solid film. It is most commonly used to protect, color, or provide texture. Paint can be made in many ...

and

engraving Engraving is the practice of incising a design onto a hard, usually flat surface by cutting grooves into it with a Burin (engraving), burin. The result may be a decorated object in itself, as when silver, gold, steel, or Glass engraving, glass ...

over the course of modern world history. The much more famous reproductions, like the one at the

Honolulu Museum of Art The Honolulu Museum of Art (formerly the Honolulu Academy of Arts) is an art museum in Honolulu, Hawaii. The museum is the largest of its kind in the state, and was founded in 1922 by Anna Rice Cooke. The museum has one of the largest single col ...

(allegedly based on the Cleveley version), often depicted Cook as a peacemaker trying to stop the fighting between his sailors and the

native Hawaiians Native Hawaiians (also known as Indigenous Hawaiians, Kānaka Maoli, Aboriginal Hawaiians, First Hawaiians, or simply Hawaiians) ( haw, kānaka, , , and ), are the indigenous ethnic group of Polynesian people of the Hawaiian Islands. Hawaii ...

that they had challenged in combat. However, in 2004, the original Cleveley painting was discovered in a private collection belonging to a family since 1851. James, Cleveley's brother was a member of Cook's crew, and the painting is said to concur with his drawings and eyewitness accounts. The original depicted Cook involved in hand-to-hand combat with the native Hawaiians. The discovery of the original painting has not changed the way most

historians A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the stu ...

view Cook's relationship with the Hawaiians, as during his last voyage, Cook was reported by his contemporaries to have become irrationally violent. The original watercolour painting, together with three others in a series by Cleveley, was put up for auction by Christie's auction house in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

in 2004. The lot of four paintings sold for £318,850 (US$572,655).

Zoffany painting

A later painting titled '' The Death of Captain James Cook, 14 February 1779'' by Johann Zoffany was begun in and was the painting owned by Cook's widow. This painting is in the

National Maritime Museum The National Maritime Museum (NMM) is a maritime museum in Greenwich, London. It is part of Royal Museums Greenwich, a network of museums in the Maritime Greenwich World Heritage Site. Like other publicly funded national museums in the United ...

.The death of Captain James Cook, 14 February 1779
, National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, London, accessed 18 September 2010

Gallery

File:deathofcookoriginal.jpg, A cropped version of the original painting by Cleveley which was discovered in 2004 and depicts Captain Cook as a violent man File:Death of Captain Cook by John Cleveley the Younger, Aquatint Francis Jukes HMA I259817 TePapa.jpg, One of the most famous reproductions of 'Death of Captain Cook' by John Cleveley the Younger, Aquatint Francis Jukes. It depicts Cook as a peacemaker File:'Death of Captain James Cook', oil on canvas by George Carter, 1783.jpg, George Carter's 1783 version File:Death of Captain Cook.jpg,

's 1784 version File:Cook-death.jpg, 1790 version of Cook's death File:Zoffany Death of Captain Cook.jpg, ''The Death of Captain James Cook'', 1794,

Johan Zoffany Johan Joseph Zoffany (born Johannes Josephus Zaufallij; 13 March 1733 – 11 November 1810) was a German neoclassical painter who was active mainly in England, Italy and India. His works appear in many prominent British collections, includin ...

References

{{Authority control 1784 paintings Hawaii art Monuments and memorials to James Cook Paintings about death Watercolor paintings