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Notes
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George (or Georg as he is often called) accompanied his father, Johann Reinhold Forster, on Cook’s Second Voyage. He was an excellent naturalist, talented watercolour artist, and a perceptive observer. He also seems to have been much more popular both with the crew and with Cook than his father, the difficult but immensely learned scientist officially appointed to the Voyage. George (1754–1794) was the oldest of Johann Reinhold’s seven surviving children, and was born near Gdansk in modern Poland. From the age of eleven he accompanied his father on his travels, and came to England in 1766. He was only nineteen when he sailed with Cook on the Second Voyage. After the voyage, his father hoped to write the official account of the Voyage.
The book was well received. George’s clear descriptions and interest in everything around him, whether old sailors’ tales about the albatross or the fish and animals observed, make for a very attractive account. But it did not sell well in comparison to the official account by Cook, and the Forsters returned to Germany in 1778. After a number of appointments, George eventually became university librarian in Mainz. Always a radical in politics and inspired by the French Revolution, he joined the Jacobins and went to Paris in 1793. Once there however he became disillusioned by the Terror and died in his fortieth year.
Captain Cook Memorial Museum
Whitby
Title
George Forster
Date
c.1784
Medium
oil on canvas
Measurements
H 56 x W 48 cm
Accession number
WHICC.10319
Acquisition method
gift from Mrs Anne von Greyerz, 2005
Work type
Painting