In the Footsteps of an Arctic Explorer

The polar regions have long had a magnetic attraction on researchers and adventurers, including the well-known Danish polar explorer Knud Rasmussen (1879-1933). We can now offer the opportunity to get a little more in touch with some of the items that characterized exploration of the isolated regions via another great polar explorer, the Norwegian- American Willie Knutsen.

23 March 2017

After WW II Willie Knutsen became an Arctic expert for the US Air Force and retired in 1969 as a Lt. Colonel.

Knutsen already got the chance to go on an expedition to Greenland at the age of 24. Here he can be seen in the field a few years later in 1938-39.

Rare multifuntional narwhale Inuit screw plug. L. 3.3 cm. Estimate: DKK 5,000.

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Dreaming of the Cold North

Thursday, March 23, we are offering an exciting collection of Greenlandica at auction. Some of the items come from a collection that belonged to the Norwegian-American polar explorer and architect Willie Knutsen (1912-1992), and it consists of both self-made tools such as kamik boots made by the wife of Knut's sled driver as well as older items found on Knutsen's travels in the polar regions, such as pieces from a trident harpoon and a rare Inuit screw plug of carved narwhal tusk.

While Willie Knutsen was born in Brooklyn, NY, he grew up in Norway, where he throughout his childhood dreamed of becoming an Arctic explorer. In 1936 Knutsen got the chance to live out his dream, when he at the age of 24 was invited to accompany the French Count Gaston Micard on his expedition to the Northeast Greenland.

The following year Knutsen led another expedition financed by Count Micard, which also had Northeast Greenland as its destination. The result was the establishment of the, at the time, northern-most station for Arctic research, Micadbu. Here the height of the Northern Lights was measured for the first time with the help of equipment from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

One of the Last Great Arctic Explorers

Knutsen spent the next 35 years exploring the Arctic and became one of the last great Arctic explorers. He had university degrees in art and architecture from Newcastle University, England, and he painted and drew on all his expeditions. He won the Fridtjof Nansen Prize, The Roald Amundsen Prize and many American prizes as well. He had two articles published in National Geographic and was a member of The Explorers Club. Several of his archaeological discoveries can today be seen at the Smithsonian in Washington, D.C. and at the Museum of Cultural History in Oslo. After WW II he became an Arctic expert for the US Air Force and retired in 1969 as a Lt. Colonel.

Auction and Preview

The collection will be sold at an online auction on Thursday, 23 March from 8 pm, and before then you are welcome to drop by our department in Aarhus to get a closer look at the historical objects. The department is open Monday to Friday between 10 am and 5 pm and on Saturdays between 10 am and 2 pm.

https://bruun-rasmussen.dk/m/collections/Groenlandica1712 View all the Greenlandica items up for auction

For further information, please contact:

Nick Messmann: +45 8818 1232 · nic@bruun-rasmussen.dk