This summer I had the opportunity to curate a wonderful exhibition. Bonhams, who sponsor the Artist in Residence programme at the Scott Polar Research Institute, kindly offered us the use of their showrooms in New Bond Street to hold a temporary exhibition. We eagerly took them up on their offer, and decided not only to feature some of our fantastic artists in residence, but also to display some of our historic collection as well.
When Captain Scott was planning his second Antarctic expedition, usually known by the name of its ship the Terra Nova, he appointed his good friend Edward Wilson as the Chief Scientist. He also hired a photographer, Herbert Ponting, who preferred to be known as a camera artist. Ponting and Wilson liked and respected one another, and we know from their diaries that they discussed holding a joint exhibition of their work. Unfortunately Wilson perished along with Scott on the return journey from the pole, and the exhibition never happened.
We thought the opportunity at Bonhams was too good to miss – so a little over a century later we were able to reunite the works of Wilson and Ponting in one exhibition. You can find out more in this clip, broadcast on BBC Breakfast.