Honolulu Museum of Art ~ Art Inspiration of the Islands

"Many things are so beautiful that they don’t seem real. 

My idea of the world—nature—things that grow ... "

~ Georgia O'Keeffe, 

letter from Hawaii to her husband Alfred Stieglitz

George Rickey

Two Open Rectangles Excentric, 1977

Burnished steel, 31' x 11'

(Balanced with counterweights, it moves with the wind!)

Honolulu Museum of Art

Opened to the public in 1922

This is a wonderful museum in Honolulu with a beautiful and varied art collection. I actually joined the museum when I was there, hoping to be able to spend more time. If I was an O'ahu resident I think I would practically be living there! You'll see why.

"The museum’s permanent collection has grown from 500 works to more than 50,000 pieces spanning 5,000 years, with significant holdings in Asian art, American and European painting and decorative arts, 19th- and 20th-century art, an extensive collection of works on paper, Asian textiles, and traditional works from Africa, Oceania, and the Americas." - from the website

Beautiful flowers as you enter the museum ...

"That our children of many nationalities and races, born far from the centers of art, may receive an intimation of their own cultural legacy and wake to the ideals embodied in the arts of their neighbors....that Hawaiians, Americans, Chinese, Japanese, Koreans, Filipinos, Northern Europeans and all other people living here, contacting through the channel of art those deep intuitions common to all, may perceive a foundation on which a new culture, enriched by the old strains may be built in the islands."

—Anna Rice Cooke’s dedication statement, which she read at the opening of the Honolulu Academy of Arts on April 8, 1927    

"The museum is really lovely—white— rooms not too large—open courts here and there—open to the sky—a lovely building ... The Chinese room very beautiful—much more human feeling than what we do with such things in the East—flowers and grass seem to get in—they help in a museum ..."  ~ Georgia O'Keeffe, letter from Hawaii to her husband Alfred Stieglitz

There's a building for the "Arts of Hawai'i" which is so lovely to experience while you are in Honolulu. Here is a very small sampling of those works. 

Theodore Wores

The Lei Maker, 1901

Oil on Canvas

Chris Campbell

Strike a Pose III, c. 2005

Oil on canvas

"It is hard to tell about the island- the people have a kind of gentleness that isn't usual on the mainland. I feel that my tempo must definitely change to put down [or paint] anything of what is here- I don't know whether I can or not- but it is certainly a different world- and I'm glad I came." ~Georgia O'Keeffe

Lionel Walden

The Torchlight Fishermen, Waikiki, 1930

Oil on canvas board

Lionel Walden

Hawaiian Fisherman, 1924

Oil on canvas

William Twigg-Smith

Hilo Sampans, 1917

Oil on canvas

"One of the things I find myself thinking most often is that there is some thing so perfect about the climate here that it seems a bit ridiculous— even if you walk in the rain as I did yesterday up on the side of the mountain . . . it is neither hot nor cold and I love slushing through the water—Such lovely rainbows too ... "  ~ Georgia O'Keeffe, in a letter to her husband Alfred Stieglitz

Robert Delaunay

The Rainbow, 1913

Oil on Canvas 

(I love his piece!!!)

If you'd like to get to know more of Robert Delaunay's work check out this slideshow (with music) someone uploaded to YouTube. I actually adore his wife Sonia Delaunay's work, as well.

Alexander Calder
Hi!, c. 1928
wire

Hans Hofmann (American, 1880-1966)

Fragrance, 1956

Oil on canvas

I love this vibrant work of abstract impressionism! In person it has even more a sense of energy, light and movement! 

Detail of Fragrance

Kevin, below, enjoying art of the 19th century. Van Gogh to the left, Monet's Water Lilies directly in front and a lovely Camille Pissarro, Rouen Saint-Sever Morning, to his right.

Vincent van Gogh
Wheat Field, 1888
Oil on canvas

This next photo was one of my favorite rooms. I want this room! Haha! I could have sat in there for hours with my journal or sketchbook. How cool do the orange walls look with the incredible (and very large) portraits, crystal chandelier, and lucite chairs? Yum!

On the left

John singer Sargent

Mrs. Thomas Lincoln Manson, Jr., 1891

Oil on canvas

On the right

James McNeill Whistler

Arrangement in Black No. 5: Lady Meux

Oil on canvas

Center

Alex Katz

Ada With a Black Scarf, 1966

Oil on canvas

There's also a wonderful Alice Neel painting in that room!

And, of course, when there are Italians present I must include a couple of those! Check out the look on Baby Gésu's face below.

Follower of Benozzo Gozzoli

Madonna and Child with Angels (detail) 15th Century
Tempera, gilding on wood panel

Workshop of Fra Fillippo Lippi
Two Saints, Mid 15th Century
Tempera, gilding on panel
(And velvet?!)

 

I love this garden area! So peaceful and the pond has koi fish! I want to go back and sketch there too!

The beautiful area above leads you into their wonderful collection of Asian Art. 

I don't have any photos of the Japanese Woodblock Prints because (for preservation) the room was too dark but they have the most incredible and expansive collection. More than 10,000 prints which is the 3rd largest in the United States! You can see many of them on their website including Hokusai's The Great Wave.

What I did get were photos of some of the other beautiful artifacts and exhibits that were on display.

Amida 

Japan, 15th century

Wood, gold

Bodhisattva Seishi

Japan, Heian period, 10th-11th century

Wood

The figure above is one of the main attendants of Amida Buddha and symbolizes the power of wisdom.

Anonymous Empress

Japan, Edo period, 19th century

Porcelain, paper-mâché, wood, hair, 

silk, cotton, metal and pigments

Attributed to Tankei (1173-1256)
Eleven-Headed Kannon
Japan, Kamukura period, 13th century
Wood, bronze, gold

So delicate and the face is exquisite!

OK, so keep in mind this next sculpture is large. As in ... life size. The room lights are dim and as you enter the room it's presence is so powerful. As you'll see, it sits there washed in a warm glow of light in the "royal ease" positing. Stunning.

Anonymous 

Guanyin ~ The Bodhisattva of Compassion 

c. 1025

China, Northern Song or Tangut Xia dynasty 

The Hawaiian wood works and textiles were almost impossible to photograph behind glass. It was too dark and there was too much glare for my iPhone but if you get there, they are definitely worth seeing.

When I came around a corner and saw these paintings I took a long breath and exhaled. Beauty in green! There's nothing else like a Georgia O'Keeffe. Here, she seems to pare the paintings down to their absolute essentials and the result is captivating. You have all the information you need about these beautiful scenes.

Georgia O'Keefee

Waterfall-No. III-Iao Valley, 1939

Oil on Canvas

" My paintings are all sharp green valleys with waterfalls. Today was very rainy so the valley is full of mists—It is queer to sit out there in the rain painting and not mind the rain till it really poured so hard I couldn’t see much ..."~ Georgia O'Keeffe, in a letter to her husband Alfred Stieglitz

Georgia O'Keeffee

Papaw Tree, 'Iao Valley, Maui,

1939

Oil on Canvas

Georgia O'Keeffe 

Waterfall-End of Road-'Iao Valley, 1939

Oil on Canvas

"Such deeply wrinkled mountain sides with such high waterfalls could be seen through breaks in the trees across the valley—It is really a beauti-ful world . . ." ~ Georgia O'Keeffe

There was a whole show of O'Keeffe's Hawaii paintings at the New York Botanical Garden last year! Wouldn't that have been great to see? Well, we may have missed it but here's a great little video explaining her time in Hawaii. The video also shows more works that she did while she was staying in the islands as well as works she painted when she got home that were inspired by her visit. 

(The sound cuts out for about 10 or seconds near the beginning but it kicks back in so don't give up!)

"It all just doesn’t seem real—a lot of different kinds of waterfalls—mostly very thin—tumbling way down from way up high—Then the trees—such wonderful trees  ... " ~Georgia O'Keeffe

"The shade is sort of thick and light at the same time—the sun pale—a long dreamy blue sort of a mountain raising up out of the ocean to the right and on the other side of the house a nearer mountain rises up so abruptly it is startling—it has a look like a sort of mossy rock.—palm trees—other trees—flowering things—many birds. I think I am going to like it."  ~ Georgia O'Keeffe

1. The letters are in the Alfred Stieglitz/Georgia O’Keeffe Archive in the Yale Collection of American Literature at the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library and copyright © 2012 by Yale University. Per O’Keeffe’s request, the correspondence was sealed until 2006, twenty years after her death. 
   
   
   Hope you enjoyed the museum visit! For more information about the Honolulu Museum of Art, click HERE.

 Blessings, Light and Aloha!

Byodo-In Temple and Colorful Koi Fish on O'ahu

Koi

Oil on Wood Panel

(sold)

When I was four years old my family left our home, in Alaska, to move back to Southern California. On our way we made a stop in Hawaii. Being so tiny I can't say I remember the whole visit but there are a few things emblazoned on my brain. 

I remember the smell of plumeria, men twirling "sticks that were on fire" and my sister and I dressed in little muumuus. I also have a vague recollection of feeling warm both in and out of the water without having to wear a snow suit! What I do have a very clear memory of was kneeling over a pond filled with huge brightly colored "gold fish." 

Mokoli'i, otherwise known as Chinaman's Hat, on our way to the Byodo-In Temple ...

When I was thinking about what to paint for my last solo show "Through Time and Place: Five Decades" I thought of places that imprinted themselves on me and had made a big impression. Some of those places even changed me. Hawaii made an impression on me at 4 and then in my late 20s when I went back for one of my best friend's weddings. I went back again after she had her first baby.

Now, 16 years later, I had a boyfriend on O'ahu. Hawaii was and is a place filled with incredible memories! Of course, it's beautiful there but there's also something that feels mystical about it. I find it hard to explain. I ended up doing two paintings representing the islands. One piece was the koi fish in the at the top of this post. The other was of a plumeria, one of my favorite scents on the planet! 

Byodo-In Temple

1968

Like I always do, before going to Hawaii for Christmas of 2017, I did my research! I looked up things to do and see on O'ahu and one that came up on all sorts of travel articles and YouTube videos was the Byodo-In Temple. It's a "non-practicing" Buddhist temple which welcomes people of all faiths. It really is a perfect place to meditate, pray, enjoy the incredible walking garden and just enjoy a bit of Japanese culture in Hawaii.

The temple is at the foot of the Ko'olau Mountains in Kaneohe. It's a wonderful replica of a 950 year old Buddhist place of worship in Kyoto, Japan.  It was built for the 100 year anniversary of the first Japanese immigrants in 1968, which also happens to be the year I was born! 

It also has hundreds of very healthy looking koi fish ready for a photo op! I took so many pictures and definitely felt a painting coming on! 

Perfect models for my painting! Although, I'm pretty sure they were thinking they were going to get fed!

Valley of the Temples Memorial Park is located on the windward (eastern) side of the Hawaiian island of Oʻahu at the foot of the Koʻolau mountains, near the town of Kāneʻohe.

This golden Amida Buddha (Amitābha) is thought to be the largest figure carved outside of Japan. The 9 foot  Buddha was carved by the Japanese sculptor, Masuzo Inui. "Amida Buddha" is one of the five "Wisdom Buddhas." Amitāyus means "Infinite Life" so Amitābha is also called "The Buddha of Immeasurable Light and Life" is the principal Buddha in a branch of East Asian Buddhism called Pure Land Buddhism which is part of the larger Mahayana Buddhism.

"There is no place where the moonlight fails to grace, 

but it only abides in and purifies the hearts of those who gaze upon its face."

Honen Shonin-

Buddhist monk and teacher of Pure Land Buddhism 

The photo below is of me in a beautiful silk shawl my Aunt Cheri designed with a plumeria in my hair!

I think I definitely need to paint the temple!

Waikiki 

After the temple, we headed down to Waikiki. It's definitely packed with tourists, hotels and traffic but it also makes for some beautiful photos, wonderful memories and great people watching. My mom lived there in her early 20's working at one of the hotels and even sung with Don Ho! I was there with my girlfriends at the famous Hawaiian Hilton with the big rainbow on the side, for our friend Beckie's wedding 30 years later. It's fun to go back and revisit places that inhabit wonderful memories.

This next photo is the Makua and Kila Sculpture based on a children's story by Fred Van Dyke. It honors "Hawaiian values of love and respect for Ohana (family) and the ocean."

The photo below is from O'ahu in 1996 for Beckie and Shaun's wedding. The bride is on one knee in the middle and I'm next to her in blue.

This next photo is in Honolulu, from 1973, with my Mom and my big sister Penny.
Dad was taking the picture. Maybe my colorful little muumuu is the reason why I still love a red and bright pink color combo!

link
Byodo-In Temple

Blessing, Light and Aloha!