The exhibition has closed and is not currently touring around the world.

The artist who accompanied Captain Cook

[Cascade Cove] Dusky Bay by William Hodges, 1775. Repro ID: BHC2371 ©National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, London, Ministry of Defence Art CollectionThe National Maritime Museum staged the first exhibition celebrating the entire career of William Hodges. Often overlooked among his 18th-century contemporaries, Hodges left an indelible mark on the art world – influencing landscape art through his innovative treatment of new subjects.

The exhibition brought together over 50 oil paintings and more than 20 works on paper, many of which had never been on public display before. The display reassessed Hodges, placing his work firmly in the context of British global maritime expansion.

William Hodges online

A view of the Monuments of Easter Island (Rapanui) by William Hodges, circa 1776. Repro ID: BHC1795 ©National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, London, Ministry of Defence Art CollectionVisit our William Hodges website to explore four of Hodges's key paintings of the Pacific Islands. This series of ambitious, large-scale paintings commemorates the achievements of Cook's second voyage (1772–75). Find out about the artist and art on the voyage from a timeline and interactive map.

Artist of the Pacific

View in Pickersgill Harbour, Dusky Bay, New Zealand by William Hodges, circa 1776. Repro ID: BHC2370 ©National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, London, Ministry of Defence Art CollectionAs an aspiring artist, Hodges trained under Richard Wilson, an influential founder of the British school of landscape painting. Wilson had a profound effect on Hodges and the exhibition shed new light on this period of his development.

William Hodges later rose to fame as the official artist on Cook's second expedition to the Pacific. The groundbreaking plein-air methods of representing landscapes that he developed on the voyage were examined.

Museum finds the only painting of the Antarctic

X-ray of William Hodge's Pickersgill Harbour, Dusky Bay (BHC2370) reveals icebergs. Repro ID: F3422 ©National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, LondonIn preparing paintings for the exhibition, the head of oil painting conservation noticed usual things about some of them, prompting her to X-ray, among others, 'A view of Pickersgill Harbour, Dusky Bay'.

It was discovered that the rainforest gives way to a startlingly different view – of Antarctic icebergs in a rough sea. Clearly, Hodges had painted the Antarctic and then decided for whatever reason to paint over it – the only known 'oil painting' of the Antarctic.

Artist of India

After returning from the Pacific, Hodges became the first professional landscape painter to work in India. The exhibition was a rare opportunity to see this aspect of his work, including commissions from his chief patrons Warren Hastings and Augustus Cleveland.

Also on display were his detailed representations of the country's history through its landscapes and monuments, alongside work of contemporary Indian artists.