Hawaii Art History
with an emphasis on representational art
Introduction
This section of our catalogue Topics in American Art is devoted to the topic "Hawaii Art History." Articles and essays specific to this topic published in our Resource Library are listed at the beginning of the section. Clicking on titles takes readers directly to the articles and essays.
Following the links to articles and essays are a listing of museums in the state which have provided materials to Resource Library for this or any other topic.
Listed after museums are links to online resources outside our website. Following these resources is information about offline resources including DVDs, paper-printed books, journals and articles.
(above: David Howard Hitchcock, Punalu'u, 1913, Honolulu Museum of Art, accession 12789.1. Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons*)
Resource Library essays listed by author name in alphabetical order, followed by articles:
Aloha: Hawaiian Art and Artifacts from the Sullivan Collection
The Golden Age of Painting in Hawaii, 1880-1950
Twenty Years of Painting the Big Island
(above: David Howard Hitchcock, W?wa'i Beach, Kaua'i, 1929, oil on canvas, Honolulu Museum of Art. Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons**)
Museums and other non-profit sources of Resource Library articles and essays:
Contemporary Museum (now Honolulu Museum of Art)
Honolulu Academy of Arts (now Honolulu Museum of Art)
(above: Jules Tavernier, Wailuku Falls, c. 1886, oil on canvas, 18.8 x 36 inches, Honolulu Museum of Art 2563.1. Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons*)
Other online information:
All in the Family, an exhibit held September 07, 2014 - October 03, 2014 at the Honolulu Museum of Art. Includes work by two creative island families -- the Hodges and the Rath-Mayfields. Accessed January, 2015.
Art Deco Hawai'i, an exhibit held July 03, 2014 - January 11, 2015 at the Honolulu Museum of Art. Includes press review. Accessed January, 2015.
Artists who painted Hawaii from askArt. Accessed August, 2015
Francis Haar: Disappearing Honolulu is a 2019 exhibit at the University of Hawaii Art Gallery / John Young Museum of Art which says: "Francis Haar (19081997) was a Hungarian expatriate photographer who lived in Honolulu from 1960 until his death. Primarily recognized for his photographs of Japanese and Hawaiian cultural practitioners, he photographed (on his own initiative) the changes to 'A'ala during the 1960s." Accessed 5/20
Georgia O'Keeffe and Ansel Adams: The Hawai'i Pictures, an exhibit held July 18, 2013 - January 12, 2014 at the Honolulu Museum of Art. Accessed January, 2015.
Hawaiian Art from Wikipedia. Accessed August, 2015.
Hawaii Art History: 1850-1945 is a 2026 Gemini 3 Deep Research Report which says: "The evolution of artistic expression in the Hawaiian Islands between 1850 and 1945 constitutes a distinct chapter in American art history, characterized by a complex interplay between indigenous cultural resilience, the prestige of monarchical patronage, and the transformative influence of Western aesthetic movements. This period witnessed the islands' transition from an independent, internationally recognized kingdom to a United States territory, a socio-political shift mirrored in the mediums, styles, and subjects of the artists working within the archipelago. Unlike the development of art in the continental United States, which often mirrored European trends with a slight delay, Hawaiian art was profoundly shaped by its geographic isolation, the sublime power of its active volcanoes, and the unique racial and cultural synthesis that occurred at this Pacific crossroads." Accessed 4/26
Hawaiian Woodcarving is a 2026 article by Grok 4 Expert which says: "When you think about Hawaii in the mid-1800s, it's this wild mix of ancient traditions clashing with a flood of outsiders -- missionaries, whalers, traders, all showing up and shaking things up. Woodcarving, a cornerstone of Hawaiian culture for centuries, was right in the middle of that shift. Back before Captain Cook crashed the party in 1778, native Hawaiians were masters at turning local woods like kou, milo, and kamani into everything from massive temple idols to everyday bowls and tools. They didn't have metal, so they used polished stone adzes, shark-tooth knives, coral rasps, and even sand and water to shape and smooth the wood." Accessed 4/26
He Ho ala Ana / An Awakening: (Kapa by Marie McDonald), an exhibit held November 20, 2008 - January 18, 2009 at the Honolulu Academy of Arts. Accessed January, 2015
The Isaacs Art Center is a collecting art museum in Waimea on the Big Island in Hawaii. The Center is affiliated with the Hawai'i Preparatory Academy (HPA). To TFAO's knowledge, it is one of two collecting art museums in the United State affiliated with a co-educational secondary school. (HPA also offers K-8 education.) The other is Addison Gallery of American Art, affiliated with Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts. Accessed 2/23
Serious Fun: Thurston Twigg- Smith + Contemporary Art, an exhibit held December 06, 2012 - February 16, 2014 at the Honolulu Museum of Art. Accessed January, 2015.
Sisters of the Brush: Women Artists of Hawaii, 1880 - 2000 is a 2019 exhibit at the Isaacs Art Center in Waimea on the Big Island in Hawaii. Katherine Keener says in a 9/12/19 article in Art Critique: "Sisters of the Brush boasts works by some of the founding members of The Seven, including Juliette May Fraser, Genevieve Springston Lynch, Madge Tennent, and Juanita Vitousek. Others, whose works were often exhibited alongside The Seven, like Marguerite Blasingame and Shirley Russell, are done so once again." Accessed 2/23
Sleep with the Fishes: Olek and Kozyndan | World Oceans Day Hawai'i, an exhibit held June 06, 2014 - June 12, 2014 at the Honolulu Museum of Art. Accessed January, 2015.
Tattoo Honolulu, an exhibit held June 14, 2012 - January 27, 2013 at the Honolulu Museum of Art. Accessed January, 2015.
(above: Franz 'Frank' Nikolous Otremba (1851-1910), (after Thomas Ridgeway Gould), Born Germany active Hawai'i, Small Replica of King Kamehameha I, 1903, wood, carved and gilded. Photo courtesy of Hiart, Wikimedia Commons*)
Books, listed by year of publication, with most recently published book listed first:
Arts And Crafts Of Hawaii, By Te Rangi Hiroa, Peter H. Buck. Published by Bishop Museum Press, 2003. Original from the University of California. Digitized Jul 17, 2008. ISBN 1581780265, 9781581780260. 606 pages
Hilo 1823-1923: A Century of Paintings and Drawings, by David Forbes and Thomas Kunichika. Published by Lyman House Memorial Museum. 1984
Sculpture in the Sun: Hawaii's Art for Open Spaces, By Georgia Radford, Warren Radford, Rick Golt. Photographs by Rick Golt. Contributor Rick Golt. Published by University Press of Hawaii, 1978. Original from the University of Michigan. Digitized Nov 13, 2007. 100 pages
Artists of Hawaii: 19 Painters and Sculptors, by Francis Haar (Author), Prithwish Neogy (Author). 168 pages. Publisher: Univ of Hawaii Pr (September 1974). ISBN-10: 0824803388. ISBN-13: 978-0824803384 (could be contemporary)
Master Artists of Hawaii, By Honolulu International Center, Honolulu Academy of Arts, Published by Honolulu Academy of Arts,, 1964. 9 pages
(above: Marguerite Louis Blasingame, The Lovers, c. 1935, carved wood panel. Photo courtesy of Hiart, Wikimedia Commons*)
Articles:
Jennifer Saville: "Hawaii and its People" American Art Review May-June 2001 (Volume XIII, Number 3)
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