So I can post these pictures from an exhibition at the Peabody Essex Museum (Salem, Massachusetts) without complaining too much about the cold. (I can’t complain at all after reading about Shackleton.)
There are 14 images from the show online, with informative captions, and they’re worth a look. For example:
And the caption:
Painter George Marston joined explorer Ernest Shackleton on two voyages, the 1908 Nimrod expedition and the ill-fated 1914 Endurance expedition to Antarctica.
In his painting Aurora Australis, he uses the southern lights – the southern counterpart of the northern lights – to frame an iconic view of polar exploration at the turn of the 20th century, showing the rough shelters and sled dogs.
Lacking a canvas, he painted the scene on a salvaged piece of tea crate
Also, who knew there was an Antarctic equivalent to the Northern Lights?