The End of Cook's Bay. Island of Moorea. Society Islands. Dawn
Artist
John La Farge
(American, 1835 - 1910)
Date1891
MediumWatercolor and gouache on paper
DimensionsSheet Dimension: 14 3/4 x 22
ClassificationsWatercolor
Credit LineHarriet Russell Stanley Fund
Terms
Object number1951.07
DescriptionCook’s Bay takes its name from the renowned British Captain James Cook who discovered the Tahitian Islands in 1769. In “The End of Cook's Bay”, La Farge diligently observed the exotic tropical scene and rendered it in an array of green, blue, and turquoise. La Farge’s exceptional skill in depicting the quality of light and atmosphere of a specific time of day, elevates this painting beyond a mere travel sketch. The morning fog floats above the palm trees and the volcano, giving the painting an ethereal and dreamy quality. It is possible that La Farge’s Tahitian depictions might have Romantic connotations since he later wrote:“The name [Otaheite (Tahiti)] recalls so many associations of ideas, so much romance of reading, so much of the history of thought, that I find it difficult to disentangle the varying strands of the threads.”
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