Art in Antarctica: 12 stunning works that capture the spirit of the south

24/07/2025

We explore how Antarctica has stirred creativity across the decades, proving that even in the coldest corners of the Earth, the spark of inspiration burns brightly.

For over a century, Antarctica has captivated the imagination, not just of explorers and scientists, but of artists drawn to its stark beauty and otherworldly solitude. From the haunting whiteness of its ice fields to the thunderous crack of calving glaciers, the frozen continent has inspired artists to capture its extremes. 

Our 2025 calendar featured 12 works from artists who were inspired by the unknown southern land of Antarctica. From William Hodges’ etchings aboard the Resolution as Captain Cook crossed the Antarctic Circle in 1773 to modern works by artists from the Friends of SPRI Artists in Residence programme, we explore how Antarctica’s vast, untamed landscapes and unique wildlife atmosphere have stirred creativity across the decades, proving that even in the coldest corners of the Earth, the spark of inspiration burns brightly.

1. Base A, Goudier Island, Port Lockroy

Keith Shackleton (1923-2015)

Shackleton is known for his meticulously observed wildlife and marine paintings, often depicting dramatic scenes in the icy wastes and churning seas of Antarctica. A passionate conservationist, from 1969 he joined the naturalist team aboard the Lindblad Explorer, the first ice exploration passenger vessel. A UKAHT Trustee, he painted Port Lockroy in 1997 to raise funds for the charity. “A good landscape painting is not just a demonstration of competent application of paint. It must offer a feeling of homage to the subject.”

2. Antarctic Commensalism

Bruce Pearson

“Sketching from life has been the starting point for almost all my work as an artist. Seeing the dark darting shapes and close proximity of relatively tiny Wilson’s Storm-Petrels to huge lunging humpback whales was visually dramatic. The birds were flitting all around, feeding on the spillage the leviathans created. Biologically, this closeness is called commensalism, which is a relationship between two species in which one obtains benefits from the other without harming or benefiting it.”

3. Leopard Seal

Una Hurst

“I was raised in a remote settlement called Fox Bay East on the Falkland Islands, where my father operated the radio station and postal service. I grew up with penguins and seals and loved to draw and paint them. Leopard seals were common visitors. This painting, using a reference photograph taken by Russ Evans, depicts the formidable predator. The ends of a leopard seal’s mouth are permanently curled upward, which I like to think of as a smile rather than a menacing grin!”

4. Adélie Penguins and Iceberg

Dick Laws (1926-2014)

On Signy Island and South Georgia with the Falkland Islands Dependencies Survey from 1947 to 1952, zoologist Laws used painting for both scientific illustration and recreation. This watercolour, completed during his tenure as British Antarctic Survey director, celebrates the stark grandeur of the Antarctic environment and the spectacular nature of its wildlife. “I was fascinated by the shapes and colours of snow and shadows. I learnt that the impression of snow can be created by leaving large areas of white paper untouched.”

5. Sledge Hauling on Ski, March 1911

Edward Wilson (1872-1912)

This is one of the most recognisable of Wilson’s paintings from Captain Scott's British Antarctic Expedition (1910-1913), the image being much discussed. Wilson was noted by his peers as valuing accuracy above aesthetics. However, Scott's sledging teams usually worked in teams of four. Why then did Wilson depict a five-man sledging team? The geologist, Frank Debenham, speculated that the painting was produced because Scott had already confided in Wilson the thought of a five-man team going to the South Pole.

6. Transantarctic Mountains and Iceberg

Dafila Scott

“In 2020, I was lucky enough to travel to the Ross Sea in Antarctica, and visit the hut at Cape Evans from which my grandfather, Captain Robert Scott and his companions set out for the South Pole. When we were there, the sea was rough on the east side of the Ross Sea, and it was several days before we could land. On the west side, however, the sun shone and we had wonderful views of the Transantarctic Mountains. This spectacular mountain range was the inspiration for this painting.”

7. Ice Patrol

Shelly Perkins

“Ice Patrol represents a special day in my six weeks as artist in residence for the Royal Navy on board their ice-breaking vessel HMS Protector in 2017. On this particular day, the clarity of light was incredible, the sun shone, and a pod of nineteen orcas emerged in front of us, backed by the towering mountains and chunks of ice of Marguerite Bay.” Marguerite Bay is home to Base E on Stonington Island and Base Y on Horseshoe Island. This year marks 70 years since Base Y was established.

8. Tabular Iceberg

Nicholas Romeril

“In January 2018, I travelled to Antarctica aboard HMS Protector, as artist in residence for the Friends of the Scott Polar Research Institute. During the six-week expedition, we travelled to 15 special interest sites, covering over 3,500 miles. I produced over 200 drawings and paintings, a diary of the journey and a number of virtual reality films. We would encounter these huge tabular icebergs drifting along the Peninsula, and their magnificence, layers of ice, and incredible blues made me want to paint them. I had never seen anything like this before, and since my objective was to paint the connection between ice and water, I was truly inspired.”

9. Ice Tongue

Emma Stibbon

“I have an enduring fascination with Antarctica. When I first saw the Peninsula, I was astonished at its mesmerising beauty. But this, of course, is now underscored by an awareness of the retreating glaciers and ice sheets there due to a rapidly warming environment. As an artist who works from the landscape, I feel increasingly committed to documenting these events in my work. I want to record their incredible wonder and beauty.”

10. The Endurance Crushed in the Ice of the Weddell Sea, October 1915

George Marston (1882-1940)

Marston, expedition veteran and artist, lost most of his work when the Endurance was crushed and sank in the Weddell Sea in 1915. “The whole of my work, with the exception of those drawings marked by a star, went down with her. My oil colours were then commandeered to paint the seams of the boats (now our only hope), and in the final escape from the ice, six months later, we doubtless owe some small degree of our safety to those tubes of colour.”

11. Blue Crevasse

Polly Townsend

“In January 2023, I spent five weeks in Antarctica as an artist in residence. The position, sponsored and awarded by the Friends of the Scott Polar Research Institute, and hosted on the Royal Navy's ice patrol ship HMS Protector, was the latest in a series of artists’ residences to the world’s most remote and environmentally sensitive landscapes. This painting depicts the wondrous colour and light present in the ice, and portrays the balance between its seemingly immovable state and its fragility.”

12. Farewell to Antarctica

Sean Murtha

“I visited Antarctica for the first time in December 2023, as a guest lecturer and unofficial artist in residence aboard the HX expedition ship MS Roald Amundsen. Between lecturing about artists on historic expeditions and teaching art classes, I also managed to create dozens of drawings and small watercolour paintings from life. I worked fast to capture an impression of the passing landscape, this one being our last glimpse of the continent as we headed north up the Antarctic Sound, which I call Farewell to Antarctica.”