"Images of Paradise: Views from the Age of Exploration"
2000-03-18 until 2000-06-18
Peabody Essex Museum
Salem, MA, USA United States of America

In the late eighteenth century, the energy of the Enlightenment spawned maritime voyages aimed at understanding more about the cultures and natural world beyond Europe. The museums collection of maritime art and history vividly depict scenes from those voyages, including three by the British explorer Captain James Cook. An exhibition opening March 17, Images of Paradise, showcases about fifty such prints that bring these voyages to life.

The prints visually document the cultural exchanges that took place when European explorers Cook, La Perouse, Otto von Kotzebue, and Dumont dUrville-and their teams of astronomers, natural scientists, and artists-arrived in places like Tahiti, Hawaii, and New Zealand. In some cases, they were the first Europeans ever seen by the people of those lands. To many islanders, the Europeans appeared to have landed from another world. Images, the newest rotating element of the museums Odyssey exhibition, runs through June 18.

Related Links:

Indepth Arts Resources for the State of Massachusetts

Other Important Exhibitions in United States