Charles J Lundgren (New York, Connecticut, 1911 - 1988) "Fram Sailing Ship" Signed lower right. Original Oil painting on Masonite. Provenance: Collection of James A. Helzer (1946-2008), Founder of Unicover Corporation. The Fram was perhaps the most famous ship ever to engage in polar exploration. It was specifically built under the supervision of Fridtjof Nansen, one of the world's great polar explorers. The shape of her hull was designed so that the pressure of the ice would tend to push it up rather than squeeze it in. Her hull was over two feet thick and braced with steel to withstand the grinding ice floes. Her name Fram (meaning Forward) was true to her course. Under Nansen's command, she drifted in the ice pack to the latitude 86? 13', 160 miles farther north than any other ship had ever been. The Fram also gained world fame by sailing south with Roald Amundsen at the helm. Amundsen's expedition of 1910-12 was originally intended as an attempt to reach the North Pole, but he turned the Fram around when he learned that Robert Peary had already reached the mark. Then, Amundsen surprised the world. He cabled Scott that he was heading South. This could mean only one thing to Scott, Amundsen intended to be the first to reach the South Pole. Thus, the race between the Norwegian and English parties began. Amundsen arrived at the Bay of Whales on the Ross Ice Shelf, a place that was sixty miles closer to the Pole than Scott, who was at Cape Evans on Ross Island. Amundsen embarked on the still unexplored Axel Heiberg Glacier, and managed to win the luck of the draw: his journey to the Pole was fast and easy in contrast with that of the ill-fated Scott. Image Size: 18.25 x 18.5 in. Overall Size: 26 x 24 in. Unframed. (B09244)