“The ice and the long moonlit polar nights, with all their yearning, seemed like a far-off dream from another world— a dream that had come and passed away. But what would life be worth without its dreams? - Fridtjof Nansen, “Farthest North,” 1897
This publication introduces the artistic legacy of the planet's frozen frontiers now threatened by a changing climate. Tracing the impact of glaciers, icebergs, and fields of ice on artists' imaginations, “Vanishing Ice” explores the connections between generations of artists who have adopted different styles, media, and approaches to interpret alpine and polar landscapes.
Image 1: Front cover with image by Jean de Pomereu, “Fissure 2 (Antarctica)” from Sans Nom, 2008, archival inkjet print. Description: A fissure on the ice showing the dark water underneath
Image 2. Top: Marc Theodore Bourrit, “Le Mont Blanc vu en face du coté de l’Allée-Blanche,” from Horace-Benedict de Saussure, Voyages dans les Allpes, 1786, engraving. Bottom: Patrizia Imhof, Le Mont Blanc vu en face du coté de, l’Allée-Blanche, 2009, color photograph Description: Two photographs showing the difference in the amount of ice and snow on Mont Blanc. Top image from 1786 shows a lot more amount of ice and snow covering the mountains. Bottom image shows very little snow on top of the mountains.
Image 3: Francois-Auguste Biard, Pêche au morse par des Groënlandais, vue de l’Océan Glacial (Greenlanders hunting walrus, view of the Polar Sea), Salon of 1841, oil on canvas. Description: A couple of fishing boats with fishermen in the foreground, surrounded by a number of large icebergs in the rough sea.
Vanishing ice : alpine and polar landscapes in art, 1775-2012 Matilsky, Barbara C. [author] 1st ed. Bellingham, Wash. : The Whatcom Museum ; Seattle, Wash. : Distributed by the University of Washington Press, 2013. 144 p. : col. ill. ; 28 cm. Language: English "This publication accompanies the touring exhibition, Vanishing ice : alpine and polar landscapes in art, 1775-2012, for the Whatcom Museum ... Whatcom Museum, Bellingham, Washington, November 2, 2013-March 2, 2014; El Paso Museum of Art, El Paso, Texas, June 1-August 24, 2014; McMichael Canadian Art Collection, Kleinberg, Ontario, October 11, 2014-January 11, 2015" 2013 HOLLIS number: 990138118670203941