Despite polar cold and the prospect of whiteouts or gale force winds, landscape painter Leland Curtis (1897-1989) could not resist the allure of Antarctica, and in 1939 he became an artist for the United States Antarctic Service Expedition under the command of Rear Admiral Richard Byrd. Curtis鈥� paintings of the continent conveyed the stark beauty of this stunning and fearsome land with a sense of intensity. Selections of his work were published in a 1940 Life article featuring Byrd鈥檚 exploration of the region. Expedition mandates included mapping a section of the continent鈥檚 seacoast, and paintings by Curtis augmented this effort with a more pictorial description. (Expedition to the Antarctic: under Admiral Byrd, it finds 900 miles of new coastline. Life. July 8, 1940:27-33.)