Pulitzer Prize–winning author and photojournalist Paul Watson sheds light on a story intricately linked with the broken mast in the DMA’s signature painting The Icebergs by Frederic Edwin Church.
Ice Ghosts weaves together the epic story of the Lost Franklin Expedition of 1845—whose two ships and crew of 129 were lost to the Arctic ice—with the modern tale of the scientists, divers, and local Inuit behind the incredible discovery of the flagship’s wreck in 2014. Paul Watson was the only journalist on board the icebreaker that led the discovery expedition. He tells a fast-paced adventure story: Sir John Franklin and the crew setting off in search of the fabled Northwest Passage, the hazards they encountered, the reasons they were forced to abandon ship, and the decades of searching that turned up only rumors of cannibalism and scattered papers and bones-—until a combination of faith in Inuit lore and the latest science yielded a discovery for the ages.
Watson’s career as a war correspondent and photographer spans almost three decades on several continents, including Africa, Asia, and the Middle East. His memoir, Where War Lives (2007), shares his own stories of war reporting and PTSD. He is the recipient of almost every major journalism award.
6:15 and 6:45 p.m.: Join Sue Canterbury, The Pauline Gill Sullivan Associate Curator of American Art, for a talk in the galleries focused on Church’s The Icebergs. Space is limited.