The Bottom of the World, Mirny and Vostok, 1820

oil on canvas, 16” x 20”

$5,200

Well before Sir Ernest Shackleton, in 1819, two Russian Corvettes, the 600 ton Vostok, and the 530 ton Mirny were dispatched to the Antarctic continent and became the first people to sight the shores of Antarctica. Both ships were copper bottomed and well strengthened for work in the ice, and spent the voyage circumnavigating the entire continent, not once but twice. Along the way, they became the first ships to discover and chart many inlets both in the Pacific and Southern Oceans, and conducted valuable hydrographic experiments. The Vostik Expedition was under the command of Captain Fabian Gottlieb von Bellingshusen. In 751 days the vessels sailed 49,723 miles. Both ships reached home in Kronshtadt on July 24, 1821. Described by historian Hugh Robert Mill as “One of the greatest Antarctic expeditions on record, a voyage, well worthy of being placed beside that of English explorer James Cook.” Here Paul Garnett depicts the beauty of the stark Antarctic landscape and the ships so far from home.