A PAINTING once owned by the family of Yorkshire explorer Captain James Cook has gone on permanent display at the Captain Cook Museum in Whitby.
The pen, ink and watercolour work was painted by eighteenth century artist William Hodges and is entitled Matavai Bay, referring to the bay on the Pacific island of Tahiti which it depicts.
The work is dated from 1773-1774 and shows a scene from the latter part of Captain Cook’s second voyage, which took him from the icy seas of Antarctica to the balmy waters of the Pacific Islands.
Hodges was Captain Cook’s official artist and accompanied him on all his voyages, recording the journey.
The painting was bought with the aid of a £25,000 grant from The Art Fund, a charity that saves British works of art for British galleries, and donations from other arts groups.
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