‘ These had most to give ’: Kathleen Scott's sculpture at the Scott Polar Research Institute, Cambridge
ABSTRACT The bronze sculpture variously known as These had most to give , Aspiration and Youth , stands in the forecourt of the Scott Polar Research Institute (SPRI) in Cambridge, and functions as a memorial to the British Antarctic Expedition polar party of 1911–1912. It is one of the most importan...
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Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0032247413000570 https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0032247413000570 |
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crcambridgeupr:10.1017/s0032247413000570 2024-03-03T08:38:20+00:00 ‘ These had most to give ’: Kathleen Scott's sculpture at the Scott Polar Research Institute, Cambridge Stocker, Mark 2013 http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0032247413000570 https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0032247413000570 en eng Cambridge University Press (CUP) https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms Polar Record volume 51, issue 1, page 49-57 ISSN 0032-2474 1475-3057 General Earth and Planetary Sciences Ecology Geography, Planning and Development journal-article 2013 crcambridgeupr https://doi.org/10.1017/s0032247413000570 2024-02-08T08:32:34Z ABSTRACT The bronze sculpture variously known as These had most to give , Aspiration and Youth , stands in the forecourt of the Scott Polar Research Institute (SPRI) in Cambridge, and functions as a memorial to the British Antarctic Expedition polar party of 1911–1912. It is one of the most important works by Kathleen Scott, wife of Robert Falcon Scott, and a prominent and prolific sculptor. Originally intended as a war memorial and dating from 1922–1923, it received critical acclaim and was exhibited widely. Ten years later Kathleen Scott offered the sculpture to the SPRI to accompany its new building. The institute's committee of management wished to reject the gift, however, as its members considered it too successful in conveying ‘death and martyrdom and in general the tragic side of Polar work’, as Frank Debenham stated, rather than scientific research and discovery. After prolonged discussions with the institute's architect, Herbert Baker, who admired Kathleen Scott and this work, it was finally accepted and installed as inconspicuously as possible. This article reconstructs the historical background to the sculpture and the controversy that surrounded it, using primary source material. The relevance of the objections to the sculpture, as well as its positive qualities, are also briefly examined from a modern perspective. Article in Journal/Newspaper Antarc* Antarctic Polar Record Scott Polar Research Institute Cambridge University Press Antarctic Debenham ENVELOPE(-67.100,-67.100,-68.133,-68.133) Kathleen ENVELOPE(172.800,172.800,-83.767,-83.767) Polar Record 51 1 49 57 |
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Open Polar |
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Cambridge University Press |
op_collection_id |
crcambridgeupr |
language |
English |
topic |
General Earth and Planetary Sciences Ecology Geography, Planning and Development |
spellingShingle |
General Earth and Planetary Sciences Ecology Geography, Planning and Development Stocker, Mark ‘ These had most to give ’: Kathleen Scott's sculpture at the Scott Polar Research Institute, Cambridge |
topic_facet |
General Earth and Planetary Sciences Ecology Geography, Planning and Development |
description |
ABSTRACT The bronze sculpture variously known as These had most to give , Aspiration and Youth , stands in the forecourt of the Scott Polar Research Institute (SPRI) in Cambridge, and functions as a memorial to the British Antarctic Expedition polar party of 1911–1912. It is one of the most important works by Kathleen Scott, wife of Robert Falcon Scott, and a prominent and prolific sculptor. Originally intended as a war memorial and dating from 1922–1923, it received critical acclaim and was exhibited widely. Ten years later Kathleen Scott offered the sculpture to the SPRI to accompany its new building. The institute's committee of management wished to reject the gift, however, as its members considered it too successful in conveying ‘death and martyrdom and in general the tragic side of Polar work’, as Frank Debenham stated, rather than scientific research and discovery. After prolonged discussions with the institute's architect, Herbert Baker, who admired Kathleen Scott and this work, it was finally accepted and installed as inconspicuously as possible. This article reconstructs the historical background to the sculpture and the controversy that surrounded it, using primary source material. The relevance of the objections to the sculpture, as well as its positive qualities, are also briefly examined from a modern perspective. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Stocker, Mark |
author_facet |
Stocker, Mark |
author_sort |
Stocker, Mark |
title |
‘ These had most to give ’: Kathleen Scott's sculpture at the Scott Polar Research Institute, Cambridge |
title_short |
‘ These had most to give ’: Kathleen Scott's sculpture at the Scott Polar Research Institute, Cambridge |
title_full |
‘ These had most to give ’: Kathleen Scott's sculpture at the Scott Polar Research Institute, Cambridge |
title_fullStr |
‘ These had most to give ’: Kathleen Scott's sculpture at the Scott Polar Research Institute, Cambridge |
title_full_unstemmed |
‘ These had most to give ’: Kathleen Scott's sculpture at the Scott Polar Research Institute, Cambridge |
title_sort |
‘ these had most to give ’: kathleen scott's sculpture at the scott polar research institute, cambridge |
publisher |
Cambridge University Press (CUP) |
publishDate |
2013 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0032247413000570 https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0032247413000570 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(-67.100,-67.100,-68.133,-68.133) ENVELOPE(172.800,172.800,-83.767,-83.767) |
geographic |
Antarctic Debenham Kathleen |
geographic_facet |
Antarctic Debenham Kathleen |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctic Polar Record Scott Polar Research Institute |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctic Polar Record Scott Polar Research Institute |
op_source |
Polar Record volume 51, issue 1, page 49-57 ISSN 0032-2474 1475-3057 |
op_rights |
https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1017/s0032247413000570 |
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Polar Record |
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51 |
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1 |
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49 |
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57 |
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