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Dr Huw Lewis-Jones MA MPhil PhD
Curator of Art
Historian and Curator with interests in Exploration; Inuit Art; Naval and Maritime History; History and Philosophy of Science in the Polar Regions; Nineteenth-Century Fine Art, Theatre, Literature, Photography and Print Culture; Imperial Hagiography.
Biography
Since September 2008, Dr Huw Lewis-Jones has been researching and acquiring the national collection of Inuit art for the Scott Polar Research Institute, supported by a unique grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund. Among many responsibilities, Huw was research curator for the Freeze Frame historic photography digitisation programme, the AHRC funded United Kingdom Polar Art Heritage project, and the permanent galleries development project, The Polar Museum. He continues to curate an extensive exhibition programme, developing a number of high-profile international touring exhibitions, whilst also concentrating on new book projects.
Having taken a Bachelor of Arts at the University of Cambridge and the Master of Philosophy at the Scott Polar Research Institute, University of Cambridge, Huw completed a Doctor of Philosophy in 2007. Huw was a Visiting Fellow, Department of the History of Science, at Harvard University in 2003, and Curator of Imperial and Maritime History at the National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, London during 2006-2007.
Dr Lewis-Jones is Editor of the annual maritime history journal The Trafalgar Chronicle and Guest Editor of The Arctic Book Review. He lives in London and is also working as a writer, curator, art critic, and historical consultant within media and broadcasting.
Qualifications
- BA (Hons), University of Cambridge, 2001.
- MPhil, University of Cambridge, 2002.
- MA, University of Cambridge, 2004.
- PhD, University of Cambridge, 2007.
Research
Dr Lewis-Jones' ongoing research interests include the intellectual history of exploration in an age of empire; the art of travel and exploration; the history and philosophy of the geographical sciences; imperial exhibitions and maritime hagiography; the social and cultural history of nineteenth-century Britain; and portraiture, photography, popular theatre, and print culture in the nineteenth century.
Dr Lewis-Jones' latest book is Face to Face: Polar Portraits, an account of historic and modern photographic portraiture, published in 2008 by the Scott Polar Research Institute and Polarworld. It has recently been released in a second edition in the United Kingdom by Conway, in addition to other foreign languages. For more information, see www.polarfacebook.com. His recent television work includes Captain Cook: Obsession and Discovery for ABC and the History Channel and the critically-acclaimed documentary series Wilderness Explored for the BBC.
His future book projects now include an account of Inuit art in Britain, an exploration of pioneering maritime photography, a new examination of polar spectacles, mass-media and nineteenth-century epic entertainments, and the first comprehensive catalogue of polar artist Dr Edward Wilson (1872-1912) who accompanied Scott on the Discovery and Terra Nova expeditions. Dr Lewis-Jones is developing for publication the portfolios of a number of innovative photographers, whilst also working on a range of research articles, including the aesthetic context of nineteenth-century hero-worship, the life and work of the novelist and colonial American artist William Williams (1727-1791), the stage career of the actor Thomas Potter Cooke (1786-1864), the forgotten Russian artist-explorer Alexander Alexeyevich Borisov (1866-1934), and the life of the enigmatic marine artist Herbert John Everett (1876-1949).
Current and recent projects
- Inuit Art and the Modern World (online shortly)
- Polar Museum Exhibitions
- British Polar Art
- Face to Face: Polar Portraits
- Captain Ross: Hero of the Arctic Regions
- Freeze Frame
Selected publications
- Barnett, C. with Lewis-Jones, H. (for 2011) Life on the Line: People of the Arctic Circle (London: Polarworld).
- Lewis-Jones, H. (2009) 'Too Sublime for our Comprehension: Blake's Nelson Reconsidered', The Trafalgar Chronicle, 19, pp. 148-161.
- Lewis-Jones, H. (2009) 'Nelsons of Discovery: Notes on the Franklin Monument in Greenwich', The Trafalgar Chronicle, 19, pp. 78-105.
- Lewis-Jones, H. (2009) Abenteurer im Eis: Portrats 1845 - Heute (Munchen: Frederking & Thaler / GEO), first German edition.
- Lewis-Jones, H. (2009) Face to Face: Polar Portraits (London: Anova Conway), second United Kingdom edition.
- Lewis-Jones, H. (2009) 'Lion of the Season: Captain John Ross's Narrative of a Second Voyage in Search of a North-West Passage', in Travellers - The Pocket Library, An Anthology, edited by Julian Tunnicliffe (London: The Travellers Club), pp. 28-31.
- Lewis-Jones, H. (2008) Face to Face: Polar Portraits (Cambridge: Scott Polar Research Institute with Polarworld), first United Kingdom edition.
- Lewis-Jones, H. (2008) 'To succeed, or perish': Memorial of Services, Captain George Cheyne', The Trafalgar Chronicle, 18, pp. 173-192.
- Lewis-Jones, H. (2008) 'Captain John Ross - Polar Celebrity', in Skelt's Juvenile Drama - Captain Ross; Hero of the Arctic Regions (London: Griffin and Neptune, 2008), pp. 49-58.
- Lewis-Jones, H. (2008) 'Balloonacy: Commander Cheyne's Flight of Fancy', Polar Record, 44:4, pp. 289-302.
- Lewis-Jones, H. (2007) 'Trafalgar Old Boys: A Graphic Portrait', The Trafalgar Chronicle, 17, pp. 182-192.
- Lewis-Jones, H. (2007) 'Tar Triumphant; or, Thomas Potter Cooke and Nautical Melodrama', The Trafalgar Chronicle, 17, pp. 118-145.
- Lewis-Jones, H. (2007) 'Freeze Frame: Historic Polar Images', Polar Record, 43:4, pp. 366-368.
- Lewis-Jones, H. (2007) The Invisible Throne: The Royal Navy, Polar Exploration, and Imagining Heroes in the Nineteenth Century (Cambridge: unpub PhD Thesis).
- Lewis-Jones, H. (2007) 'The Royal Navy and the Battle to End Slavery', BBC History: Abolition of the Slave Trade 1807, available online.
- Lewis-Jones, H. (2005) 'Nelson and the Bear: The Making of an Arctic Myth', Polar Record, 41:4, pp. 335-353.
- Lewis-Jones, H. (2005) 'Displaying Nelson: Navalism and 'The Exhibition' of 1891', The International Journal of Maritime History, 17:1, pp. 29-67.
- Lewis-Jones, H. (2005) 'Heroism Displayed: Revisiting the Franklin Gallery at the Royal Naval Exhibition, 1891', Polar Record, 41:3, pp. 185-203.
- Lewis-Jones, H. (2005) 'The Hero Packs a Punch: Representations of Nelson in the London Charivari', The Mariner's Mirror, 91:2, pp. 329-357.
- Lewis-Jones, H. (2004) 'Sir Alexander Ross Clarke', 'Sir John Franklin', 'Dr John Rae', in Dictionary of Nineteenth-Century British Scientists (Bristol: Thoemmes Press).
- Lewis-Jones, H. (2002) Peripheral Vision: Aspects of Science in the Canadian Arctic, 1840-1890 (Cambridge: unpub MPhil Thesis).
Selected publications in progress
- Lewis-Jones, H. and Mantel, K., eds. (for 2010) Nunaartuq - From the Sea Ice to the Land: Inuit Art and the Modern World.
- Lewis-Jones, H., ed. (for 2011) First Across: The Last Great Polar Journeys, by Sir Vivian Fuchs and Sir Wally Herbert (London: Polarworld).
- Lewis-Jones, H. and Potter, R. (for 2012) Beyond the Pole: Mass Media, Epic Entertainments, and the Culture of the Explorer (London: Polarworld).
- Lewis-Jones, H. and Herbert, K. (for 2012) Maybe Tomorrow - Immaqa Aqagu: People of the Polar North (London: Polarworld).
- Lewis-Jones, H. and Herbert, K., eds. (in progress) One True North: Peary, Cook, and a Polar Obsession.
- Lewis-Jones, H. (in progress) 'Nelson and Nineteenth-Century Naval Panorama', for The Trafalgar Chronicle.
- Lewis-Jones, H. (in progress) 'Naval Panorama and Visual Culture in the Nineteenth Century', for Early Popular Visual Culture, pp. xx-xx.
- Lewis-Jones, H. (in progress) 'Hero of the Arctic Regions: John Ross and Celebrity Culture in the 1830s', for Journal of Historical Geography.
- Lewis-Jones, H. (in progress) 'Salts, Stokers, and Tars of the Future: Popular Satire, Technological Innovation, and Naval Reform, 1850-1890', for International Journal for Maritime History.
- Lewis-Jones, H. (in progress) 'The Peregrinations of Penrose: William Williams, Art, and Imagination in a New Robinsonade', for Journal of Historical Geography.
- Lewis-Jones, H. (in progress) 'Aha, Mr. Nilus! So I've Found You At Last!: John Hanning Speke, Discovering the Source of the Nile, and the Visual Culture of Exploration in Mid-Victorian Britain', for Past and Present.
- Lewis-Jones, H. (in progress) 'Hurrah! For the Erebus: Contextualising the Whaling Oils of J.M.W. Turner', for Polar Record.
Selected reviews
- Lewis-Jones, H. (2009) 'Review of Janice Cavell's Tracing the Connected Narrative: Arctic Exploration in British Print Culture, 1818-1860', for Polar Record, 45:x, pp. xx-xx.
- Lewis-Jones, H. (2009) 'Review of Russell Potter's Arctic Spectacles: The Frozen North in Visual Culture, 1818-1875', for The Arctic Book Review, 9, pp. 3-6, and available online.
- Lewis-Jones, H. (2009) 'Polar Portraits', Geographical Magazine, March, pp. 38-41.
- Lewis-Jones, H. (2009) 'Pole Positions', Time Out, Jan 8 - Jan 14, pp. 132-33.
- Lewis-Jones, H. (2008) 'Polar Portraits', Sublime Magazine, 12, pp. 12-20.
- Lewis-Jones, H. (2008) 'Review of Granville Allen Mawer's South By Northwest: The Magnetic Crusade and the Contest for Antarctica', Polar Record, 44:4, pp. 376-78.
- Lewis-Jones, H. (2008) 'Weapons of Imperialism: Cartography at the V&A', Apollo: The International Magazine of Art and Antiques, April, pp. 90-91, and available online.
- Lewis-Jones, H. (2008) 'Review of Michael F. Robinson's The Coldest Crucible: Arctic Exploration and American Culture', Polar Record, 44:1, pp. 88-90.
- Lewis-Jones, H. (2008) 'Cartoon King: George III in Caricature', Apollo: The International Magazine of Art and Antiques, February, pp. 101-102, and available online.
- Lewis-Jones, H. (2007) 'Sex Sells: Seduction at the Barbican', Apollo: The International Magazine of Art and Antiques, December, pp. 110-112, and available online.
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Lewis-Jones, H. (2007) 'Minds in Chains: William Blake and Slavery', Apollo: The International Magazine of Art and Antiques, October, pp. 112-116, and available online.
- Lewis-Jones, H. (2007) 'Our Town: Huw Lewis-Jones meets artist Robert Brumby', Meridian Magazine, April, p. 53.
- Lewis-Jones, H. (2006) 'Review of David Crane's Scott of the Antarctic: A Life of Courage and Tragedy in the Extreme South', Journal for Maritime Research, available online, and Geographical Journal, 173:2, p. 188.
- Lewis-Jones, H. (2005) 'Review of Captain Peter Hore's The Habit of Victory: The Story of the Royal Navy, 1545 to 1945', The Trafalgar Chronicle, 15, pp. 275-282.
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Lewis-Jones, H. (2004) 'Beck's Futures: A New Crop of Talent at the ICA', Varsity, 30 April, p. 21.
- Lewis-Jones, H. (2004) 'Review of John Sugden's Nelson: A Dream of Glory', The Trafalgar Chronicle, 14, pp. 137-144.
Teaching
- Geography Part IB, Paper 4 - State, Politics and Environment (supervisions)
- Geography Part II, Paper 9 - The Human Geography of the Arctic Regions (supervisions)
- Private Tuition - British History, Art History, and Geography
External activities
- Fellow, Royal Geographical Society
- Editorial Director, Polarworld
- Editor, The Trafalgar Chronicle
- Council Member, The 1805 Club
- Guest Editor, The Arctic Book Review
- Member, Society for Nautical Research
- Member, Society for Theatre Research
- Member, British Mountaineering Council
- Member, The Travellers Club, London
