Hawaiian art


The Hawaiian archipelago consists of 137 islands in the Pacific Ocean that are far from any other land. Polynesians arrived there one to two thousand years ago, and in 1778 Captain James Cook and his crew became the first Europeans to visit Hawaii. The art created in these islands may be divided into art existing prior to Cook’s arrival; art produced by recently arrived westerners; and art produced by Hawaiians incorporating western materials and ideas. Public collections of Hawaiian art may be found at the Honolulu Museum of Art, the Bishop Museum, the Hawaii State Art Museum and the University of Göttingen in Germany.
In 1967, Hawaii became the first state in the nation to implement a Percent for Art law. The Art in State Buildings Law established the Art in Public Places Program and designated one percent of the construction costs of new public schools and state buildings for the acquisition of works of art, either by commission or by purchase.

Art prior to Cook's arrival

Art existing prior to Cook’s arrival is very similar to the art of other Pacific Islanders. This art includes wood carvings, feather work, petroglyphs, bark cloth and tattoos. Native Hawaiians had neither metal nor woven cloth. Production of this art continued after Cook’s arrival. A few craftsmen still produce traditional Hawaiian arts, either to sell to tourists or to preserve native culture.

Art produced by visitors

Some of the first westerners to visit Hawaii were artists—both professional and amateur. Many of the explorers’ ships had professional artists to record their discoveries. These artists sketched and painted Hawaii’s people and landscapes using imported materials and concepts. Artists in this category include Alfred Thomas Agate, Mabel Alvarez, Auguste Borget, George Henry Burgess, Jean Charlot, Nicholas Chevalier, Louis Choris, Ernest William Christmas, Amelia R. Coats, Constance Fredericka Gordon Cumming, Robert Dampier, Stanislas-Henri-Benoit Darondeau, John La Farge, Ejler Andreas Jorgensen, Georgia O'Keeffe, Roi George Partridge, Ambrose McCarthy Patterson, Enoch Wood Perry, Jr., James Gay Sawkins, Eduardo Lefebvre Scovell, Joseph Henry Sharp, John Mix Stanley, Joseph Dwight Strong, Augustus Vincent Tack, Adrien Taunay the younger, Jules Tavernier, William Pinkney Toler, Hubert Vos, Lionel Walden, John Webber and Theodore Wores. Night scenes of erupting volcanoes were especially popular giving rise to The Volcano School.

Art produced by Hawaiians and long-term residents

Artworks produced by Hawaii’s native born and long-term residents incorporating western materials and ideas include paintings on canvas and quilts. They may be distinctly Hawaiian in subject matter or as diverse as their places of origin. Most of the art currently produced in Hawaii falls into this third category. Notable artists in this category include sculptor Satoru Abe, woodcarver Fritz Abplanalp, sculptor Bumpei Akaji, Charles W. Bartlett, sculptor Marguerite Louis Blasingame, sculptor Edward M. Brownlee, Isami Doi, Paul Emmert, Robert Lee Eskridge, ceramicist Sally Fletcher-Murchison, Cornelia MacIntyre Foley, Juliette May Fraser, Charles Furneaux, Hon Chew Hee, D. Howard Hitchcock, Ogura Yonesuke Itoh, Princess Kaiulani, Herb Kawainui Kane, John Melville Kelly, sculptor Kate Kelly, Keichi Kimura, Sueko Matsueda Kimura, John Ingvard Kjargaard, Alan Leitner, Huc-Mazelet Luquiens, Genevieve Springston Lynch, Alexander Samuel MacLeod, Arman Tatéos Manookian, Joseph Nawahi, Ben Norris, Louis Pohl, Shirley Ximena Hopper Russell, sculptor Mamoru Sato, Tadashi Sato, Lloyd Sexton, Jr., Alice Louise Judd Simpich, ceramicist Toshiko Takaezu, Reuben Tam, Masami Teraoka, painter John Paul Thomas, Madge Tennent, William Twigg-Smith John Chin Young Sculptor Jerry Vasconcellos. Art Photographer Kim Taylor Reece

Selected works of native Hawaiian art