Oil paint on canvas
Tate Collection
Works with images
General Collection
Chantrey Bequest
Collection
<a href="https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artists/the-hon-john-collier-101" aria-label="More by The Hon. John Collier" data-gtm-name="header_link_artist" data-gtm-destination="page--artist">The Hon. John Collier</a>
Last Voyage Henry Hudson
Presented by the Trustees of the Chantrey Bequest 1881
actions: expressive
actions: postures and motions
adults
Arctic Circle
birth to death
boat, rowing
boy
children
comforting
countries and continents
death
diseases and conditions
educational and scientific
exploration: Arctic, 1611
explorer
family
father
history
holding hands
Hudson
Hudson, Henry
hypothermia
ice
iceberg
individuals: male
man
man, old
named individuals
people
places
politics and society
portraits
reclining
sailor
sea
seascapes and coasts
sitting
society
son
trading and commercial
transport: water
weather
work and occupations
<p>In 1611, while on an expedition to find the North-West Passage, explorer Henry Hudson and his son were cast adrift by his mutinous crew. Their fate was unknown but raised the taboo of cannibalism. Collier hints at this by posing Hudson, eerily staring out at the viewer like Dante’s ‘Ugolino’ by Joshua Reynolds, 1773. Incarcerated with his sons, Ugolino eats them to survive, although the act is futile and all eventually die. Here the vast, Arctic landscape remains impassive to a terrifying human drama. Collier’s audience noted its relevance to ongoing Arctic explorations and the search for the North-West Passage.</p><p><em>Gallery label, July 2010</em></p>
painting oil paint canvas
24 October 2001 – 11 July 2005
2005-07-11
24 October 2001
2001-10-24
Tate Britain (London, UK)
http://www.tate.org.uk/britain/
2001-10-24
Making British History
Collection based display
18 August 2009 – 14 November 2010
2010-11-14
18 August 2009 – 14 November 2010
2010-11-14
2009-08-18
Tate Britain (London, UK)
http://www.tate.org.uk/britain/
2009-08-18
Sublime
Collection based display
12 May 2011 – 8 November 2011
2011-11-08
12 May 2011 – 8 November 2011
2011-11-08
2011-05-12
Tate Britain (London, UK)
http://www.tate.org.uk/britain/
2011-05-12
Riviere in Focus
Collection based display
The Last Voyage of Henry Hudson
support: 2140 × 1835 mm
Presented by the Trustees of the <a href="/search?gid=999999977" data-gtm-name="tombstone_link_bequest" data-gtm-destination="list-page--search-results">Chantrey Bequest</a> 1881
<p>In 1611, while on an expedition to find the North-West Passage, explorer Henry Hudson and his son were cast adrift by his mutinous crew. Their fate was unknown but raised the taboo of cannibalism. Collier hints at this by posing Hudson, eerily staring out at the viewer like Dante’s ‘Ugolino’ by Joshua Reynolds, 1773. Incarcerated with his sons, Ugolino eats them to survive, although the act is futile and all eventually die. Here the vast, Arctic landscape remains impassive to a terrifying human drama. Collier’s audience noted its relevance to ongoing Arctic explorations and the search for the North-West Passage.</p>

Display caption
2010-07-08T00:00:00
display-caption
DISPLAY_CAPTION
<p><b>N01616</b> THE LAST VOYAGE OF HENRY HUDSON 1881
<br/> 
<br/>Not inscribed.
<br/>Canvas, 84 1/2×72 1/4 (214·5×184).
<br/>Chantrey Purchase from the artist 1881.
<br/><i>Exh:</i> R.A., 1881 (260); Sunderland, December 1921–January 1922 (3).
<br/><i>Repr:</i> Sir Edward J. Poynter, <i>The National Gallery</i>, III, 1900, p.27; W.H. Pollock, ‘The Hon. John Collier’ in <i>The Art Annual</i>, 1914, p.19.</p>
<p>The R.A. catalogue contained the following passage: ‘Henry Hudson, the great navigator, made his last voyage to the Polar Seas in 1610. In the summer of 1611 his crew mutinied and set him adrift in an open boat with his son, John Hudson, and some of the most infirm of the sailors. They were never heard of more.’ According to <i>The Dictionary of National Biography</i> Hudson and his immediate following were cast adrift from the ship <i>Discovery</i> on 23 June 1611, after a struggle in which four men were killed.</p>
<p><b>Published in:</b>
<br/>Mary Chamot, Dennis Farr and Martin Butlin, <i>The Modern British Paintings, Drawings and Sculpture</i>, London 1964, I</p>
<p></p>
<p></p>

Catalogue entry
2004-07-16T00:00:00
catalogue-entry
CATALOGUE_ENTRY
actions: expressive actions: postures and motions adults Arctic Circle birth to death boat, rowing boy children comforting countries and continents death diseases and conditions educational and scientific exploration: Arctic, 1611 explorer family father history holding hands Hudson Hudson, Henry hypothermia ice iceberg individuals: male man man, old named individuals people places politics and society portraits reclining sailor sea seascapes and coasts sitting society son trading and commercial transport: water weather work and occupations