HONOLULU ACADEMY OF ARTS Volume Six March-1938 Bulletin One

Queen K aahumanu I ,, it hogra ph b y N o1·bli11, a fter C hor is.

HAWAIIAN PRINTS Another group of early Hawaiian prints has been added to the collection of the Academy of Arts. It comprises seventeen lithographs by the artist-draughtsman, Louis Choris, who visited in 1816 and 1817 with the Russian Exploring Expedition commanded by . In the voyages of discovery to the Pacific in the eigh­ teenth and early nineteenth centuries, the ships' companies usually included artists as well as navigators and scientists. Upon the return of the expeditions to their home countries in Europe, accounts were published by the leaders and were illustrated by prints made from the artists' sketches. The Russian voyage is one of particular interest to students of Hawaiiana because it resulted in the publication of a large number of relatively accurate and definitely charming illustrations of early Hawaii, and because its 4 artist, Choris, is the only person known to have painted from life a portrait of the famous Hawaiian king, Kame~ hameha I. In 1821 Captain Kotzebue published the first edition of his official account of the voyage under the title, Entdec~ kungs Reise in die Sud~See und nach de Berings Strasse sur Erforsehung einer Nordostlichen Durchfahrt, 1815~18 (Voyage of Exploration in the South Seas and the Bering Straits for the Discovery of a Northwest Passage). This book, published in Weimar, Germany, was illustrated by a number of charts and colored engravings. Two of these were of Hawaiian subjects; one was the portrait of Kame~ hameha I wearing a red waistcoat. A watercolor which is believed to be Choris' original drawing for this engraving is now in the possession of Bruce Cartwright in Honolulu. The other engraving in the Weimar edition is of the famous heiau at Kailua, Kona. An original watercolor of this print is owned by Harry G. Beasley in Kent, England. Choris, in 1822, published in Paris his own book, Voyage Pittoresque autour du Monde. It was illustrated by large lithographic plates, nineteen of which were of Hawaiian subjects, of which no less than seventeen are included in the latest gift to the Academy. A number of watercolor sketches,...... ,believed to be some of the originals from which the lithographs were made,...... ,were found by Donald Angus in London. These, together with the lithographs, were exhibited at the Honolulu Academy of Arts during recent months. The comparison thus afforded was extremely interesting. The subjects of Choris' lithographs are similar to those chosen by other artists who came to Hawaii at this early period; portraits of important Hawaiian characters such as Kamehameha I, his capable wife, Kaahumanu, and Kalai­ moku, the prime minister. There are also portraits of unnamed men and women that show many facial types as well as interesting details of costume and coiffure. Choris' Wood Sculpture Drawn and Lithographed by Chori s. Woman of the Sandwich Islands. Drawn and Lithographed by Charis. I •

portraits have a more definite Polynesian character than do many of the other Hawaiiana portrait-prints. For his other sketches he chose subjects from contemporary life,...... the harbor of Honolulu, the heiau at Kailua, Hawaii, scenes of everyday activity, celebrations of hula dancing and de­ tailed drawings of objects produced by Hawaiian crafts­ men, such as decorated gourds, helmets, canoes and wood sculpture. All the work done by Choris during his short stay in Hawaii shows keen observation and understanding. The portrait of Kamehameha I that appears on the cover of this bulletin is one of two versions of the famous king painted by Choris. The provocative question as to which of these,...... if either,...... can be considered the original has been discussed at great length during recent months and several articles have been published on the subject, notably Kamehameha's Portrait by Hue M. Luquiens in his report to the Hawaiian Historical Society, and newspaper articles by John F. G. Stokes and Donald Angus. This lithograph was made by Choris, presumably from the aforementioned original watercolor sketch now in the possession of Mr. Angus. The other portrait is the one owned by Bruce Cart­ wright referred to previously in connection with the Wei­ mar edition of Kotzebue' s account of his voyage. This latter is the more commonly reproduced portrait of Kame­ hameha and is the one generally favored as having been made from life, since both Choris and Kotzebue recorded their disappointment at Kamehameha's insistence on posing in European dress. Kaahumanu, the portly queen, favorite wife and advisor to the king, is shown dressed in tapa and seated on what appears to be a makaloa mat. On her head she wears a feather lei, and across her forehead is a band of bleached hair, a style popular in that day. Over her is hung a marquee and in the distance on the left, looking toward the sea, a large sailing ship is depicted. These two details 8

<;:;;,,,,,,,., /,., ,t,, . ';,,,,,/,,.,,/ I nhabitants of the Sandwich I slands. Lithograph by Norblin, after Choris. were taken from one of the watercolors, although the rest of the lithograph differs from the original. The lithograph of the heiau at Kailua shows many inter­ esting details of an Hawaiian temple, some of which may be historically inaccurate. It differs slightly from the en­ graving published in the Weimar edition but follows very closely one of the watercolors in the Angus collection, though, of course, in the print the picture appears in reverse. The figure illustrated on page 5 is one of a number of Choris' lithographs of wood carvings. It clearly shows the sculptural quality and rhythmic lines found in the religious carvings of Hawaii. It will be seen that the artist has used the etcher's linear method of cross-hatching to produce shading, which is essentially a pencil technique. Modern lithographers, realizing that the lithographic crayon is more than a pencil, produce a richer tonal quality. The view of Honolulu Harbor shows what might be called "Queen Street in 1816". To the left of the print a flag flies over the old Honolulu Fort, which at that date was Temple of t he King in Tiritat'ea Bay. Lithograph by Norblin, after Charis.

a t the bottom of Fort Street near where it now joins Hale,.. kauwila Street. In the harbor are a number of sailing ves,... sels. indicating the importance of the port of Honolulu as early as 1816. During the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries Hawaii was visited by a number of important expeditions. The first was that of Captain James Cook in 1778, whose artist was . The Academy print co},.. lection includes twenty,...five copper engravings from the Atlas of Cook's Third Voyage to the Pacific, published in London in 1784. Besides these, which were well engraved and on excellent hand,...wrought paper, we have a number of inferior copies that were made by other engravers for geography books, newspapers and atlases. In the days when the fur traders stopped at Honolulu on their voyages between China and the American northwest. no artists accompanied them, and, consequently. there were very few prints made of Hawaii. In 1787, however, there was painted in Canton a portrait of the Hawaiian chief Tyanna ( Kaiana). Prints made from this portrait appeared 10 as illustrations in the books of Portlock in 1789 and Meares in 1795. Both of these are in the Rodiek collection of prints given to the Academy several years ago by Mr. and Mrs. Wallace Alexander. The Russian expedition, for which Choris was the artist, came in l 816~ 17. This was, therefore, the second voyage from which important records of Hawaii resulted. In 1819 a French exploring expedition visited Hawaii with the artists Arago, Pellion and others. Three sets of prints were published from the sketches made by these artists, each of which is represented in the Academy col~ lection. Some of these prints are very interesting, especially the portrait of John Young and the baptism of Kalaimoku, which ceremony was performed in 1819, one year before the New England missionaries arrived in Hawaii. Many of the prints by Arago show a sterner and more brutal side of Hawaiian life than was portrayed by any of the other artists. The next important set of Island prints was the result of Kamehameha II' s visit to London. In 1823 the Hawaiian king, also known as Liholiho, took his wife Kamamalu and a number of followers to England primarily for the purpose of seeking protection for Hawaii against Russia. While there the king and queen, as well as the chief, Boki. and his wife, Lili ha, had lithographic studies of themselves made by the fashionable portrait painter, John Hayter. The charming lithographs showing the young king and queen in European dress in the style of George IV are in the Academy collection as is a very amusing colored print of "Their Majesties, King Rheo Rheo, Queen Tamehamalu; Madame Poki, of the Sandwich Islands and Suite, as they appeared at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, June 4, 1823." Shortly after this print was made both Liholiho and Kama~ malu died of measles. George IV ordered their bodies to be sent back to Hawaii aboard H.M.S. Blonde, commanded by Captain the Right Hon. Lord Byron. The artist, Robert 11

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Port of H onolulu. Drawn by Adam, after Choris.

Dampier, accompanied this expedition and while in Hawaii painted portraits in oil of the boy king, Kamehameha III, brother and successor to Kamehameha II. This portrait, and one of the young king's sister, Nahienaena, is now in the possession of Dr. C. Montague Cooke, Jr., of Honolulu. These paintings were later used to make engravings to illustrate The Voyage of the H.M.S. Blonde, published in London in 1826. Other illustrations in this book include a set of aquatints of scenes in Hawaii, in which Hilo Bay, known as Byron's Bay, is prominently featured. Dampier's original sketch book for this voyage is at present in the George R. Carter, Jr., collection in Honolulu. The pencil sketches are exquisite and have the same tender imagina~ tive quality that characterizes the aquatints, two sets of which are in the museum's collection. A few miscellaneous prints of early Hawaii, such as incomplete records of the voyage of the Bonite in 1836 and the Venus in 1837, have found their way to our files. But the most interesting and important prints made during the 1830's were by students of the Lahainaluna Seminary, an early Protestant missionary school. These copper plate 12 engravings were the first prints actually made in Hawaii. Their quality, while naive, is not as finished as is that of the other prints referred to above, but they form an impor­ tant historical link in the pictorial representations of early Hawaii. It is an interesting fact that most of these early prints were lithographs. It was during the first quarter of the nineteenth century that lithography became a popular medium in Europe, having only been invented by Sene­ felder in 1798. Consequently, it was natural that returning artists would reproduce their sketches in this graphic art of the moment. Although Germany claims the right of dis­ covery of lithography, it was in that the earliest development took place, where from a current fad, it be­ came an important commercial process. One of the first books in which lithographic illustrations were used through­ out was Baron Taylor's Voyage Pittoresques et Roman­ tiques dans l' Ancienne France, published by Didot in 1820 in Paris. Choris' illustrated book, Voyage Pittoresque Autour du Monde, was printed in twenty parts by the same important publisher in the years 1821-1823. These prints are, therefore, excellent examples of early lithography. The Choris lithographs fill what was a distinct gap in our collection of early Hawaiian prints. Choris was an artist of no mean ability. He was a good draughtsman and his studies are convincing. Although it is apparent that he was experimenting with the new process of lithography, his prints show a sculptural quality and a texture which even then was indicative of the value of this medium as we know it today. A. F. P. and M. H.K.

ANNOUNCEMENTS The resignation of Miss Bim Melgaard, who has held the position of secretary to the director since 1927, became effective on February 15. Miss Mary L. Noonan has been appointed to fill this vacancy.

• - 13 SUMMER CLASSES Two members of the staff, Margaret H. Kai and Eliza­ beth T. Watson will conduct courses for adults this sum­ mer, for which credit will be given by the University of Hawaii. Mrs. Watson's course,...... ,"Practical Art in the Class­ room" .-is for teachers and is similar to the one offered last year. Mrs. Kai's class will be in "Primitive Art" -pre-historic European, Egyptian, Mayan, American Indian, Polynesian, Melanesian, African, etc. Both groups will meet daily at the Academy. Several interesting new classes for children will also be offered by the Academy during the summer session. These will be announced later in the spring.

HONOLULU ART SOCIETY NEW MEMBERS SINCE DECEMBER, 1937 CONTRIBUTING Fase, Mr. A. G. Van Poole, Mrs. G. M. Scott, Mrs. John A. Ward, Mr. and Mrs. Andrew L. Y. ANNUAL Babcock, Dr. Marjorie Gibson, Col. and Mrs. Paul W . Baldwin, Mrs. Dwight H. Jeffords, Mrs. W. Q. Brier, Mrs. Edward B. King, Mr. Horace B. Butler, Mrs. John K. Kribben, Mrs. B. D. Caldwell, Mr. John W . Lewis, Mrs. Dudley C. Candee, Lt. Col. Robert C. MacPhee, Mrs. Katharine Chung, Dr. Walter M. S. Matsui, Mrs. Totaro Claflin, Mr. Mansfield P. Molyneux, Mrs. A. V . Clark, Mrs. Albert B. Takeuchi, Mr. T adao Damon, Mrs. Cyril F. Terasaki, Mrs. Sadasuke Dawes, Mr. Charles S. Uyeno, Dr. Dwight H. Dillingham, Mr. Harold G., Jr. Weaver, Mrs. Galen R. Ebert, Mr. Ernest R. Weber, Mrs. Nicholas Fassoth, Mrs. John Williams, Mr. and Mrs. Roger T . Fisher, Mrs. Jessie S. Wood, Mrs. Edgar Gaspar, Mrs. L. A. R. , Jr. Y aunt, Mrs. Barton K. 14 PERMANENT COLLECTION

GIFTS Mrs. Dagny Carter,...... ,2 Chinese bronze mirrors (Chin dynasty); one bronze buckle ( Han dynasty) . Mr. and Mrs. Clarence H. Cooke,...... , Pair of Crown Derby porcelain vases. S. and G. Gump Company,...... , 1 Fijian tapa. Estate of Mrs. Calla Harrison,...... , 1 Japanese black and gold lacquer toilet set; 1 Japanese painting attributed to Koriusai, 18th century. E state of Norman D. HiJl ,...... , 1 early American tea set; Japanese Imperial kimono. Mr. Henry G. Lapha m,...... , 10 pieces of Chinese jade, Ming and Ching periods. Staff members,...... ,One album of records for the C apehart phonograph. Mr. Arthur Vernay,...... ,8 Tibetan Tang-kas (temple banners) from the monastery of Dre-Pung at Lhasa. Misses Mary Catherine and Anna Y ates, and Mrs. W. R. Ducie ,...... , 1 Paisley shawl.

PURCHASES Drawing by Paul C ezanne, study for "The Card Players." Two drawings by Auguste Renoir, "Female Nude" and "Dance in the Country." Pre-Khmer stone statue of H ari H ara, 9th century. Chinese painting of " Peonies and Geese," by Lu Chi, 15th century.

LIBRARY

GIFTS Mrs. Edwin Howland Bl ashfield ,...... ,Cortissoz : The works of Edwin Howland Bl ashfield. Mrs. Alice Spalding Bowen ,...... , Armitage : Sculpture of Boris Lovet Lorski. Mrs. George P. C astl e,...... , Lothrop: Cocle, an archaeological study of Central Panama. Mrs. C. H. Lefferts,...... , Music for Academy Chamber Music Ensemble. Bach: Minuet and Bourree, Prelude and Toccata; Faure: Quin­ tette in F minor, 2nd Quintette in 3 flats; Milhaud : Suite de con- 15 cert de La Creation du Monde; Mozart: Quartette in G minor, Quartette in E flat major; Quintett No. 6, Three divertimento movements. Mr. B. L. Marx...... -A Giotto ( 12767-1337?) Memorial Stamp; Da Stradi­ vari a Mantegna. Mrs. Philip E. Spalding...... - Hsi-ch' ing ku chi en. (Illustrated catalogue of bronzes in the Chinese Imperial collection.)

PRINT DEPARTMENT

GIFTS Dr. and Mrs. C. Montague Cooke, Jr ...... -3 etchings: A. Ray Burrell, Christmas card, 1937; Troy Kinney, New Year's card, 1938; Kualii Christmas card, 1928; 1 woodblock: Jack Bowling, Christmas card, 1937; 1 wood engraving: Hue M. Luguiens, Christmas card, 1937. Estate of Norman D. Hill...... -3 Japanese woodblocks: European type in form of triptych; 20 Japanese books...... - Y edo Meisho Zuye...... -wood­ block illustrations.

PURCHASES

Arms, John Taylor...... -etching : "Anglia Antigua." Kell y, John M ...... -color aguatint: "Hawaiiana." MacLeod, A . S ...... -lithograph: "Election Day." Majors, Robert...... -lithograph : "Orchids."

SCHOOL LOAN DEPARTMENT

GIFTS Miss Lilian Miller...... -Korean doll, in native costume. Mrs. Philip E. Spalding...... -6 H awaiian dolls, dressed to show the devel­ opment of costume since the early 19th century.

PURCHASES Objects...... -3 pieces of modern leather work; 12 examples of the arts and crafts of Melanesia...... -spatulas, bamboo lime container, canoe orna­ ments, club, fiber bands. Pictures...... -2 color reproductions of paintings: Giotto, "St. Francis Giv­ ing Robe to Poor Man"; Grant Wood, "Stone City." Slides...... -21 illustrations of Occidental and Oriental a rt. 16 HONOLULU ACADEMY OF ARTS TELErHONE 6281 900 SouTH BERETANIA STREET HONOLULU, T .H . BOARD OF TRUSTEES DR. C. MONTAGUE CooKE ...... President MRS. THEODORE RICHARDS ...... Vice-President MR. CLARENCE H. CooKE ...... Treasurer MR. THEODORE A. CooKE ...... Assistant Treasurer Mrs. Philip E. Spalding Mrs. Isaac M. Cox j Mrs. Theodore A. Cooke Mr. Richard A. Cooke Mrs. Stephen A. Derby Mrs. Alva E . Steadman Mrs. Livingston Jenks Mr. Edgar C. Schenck THE STAFF EDGAR C. SCHENCK ...... Director DOROTHY R. SCHENCK ...... Educational Director ELIZABETH THESMAR WATSON ...... /nstructor in Creative Art ALYCE HooGs ...... /nstructor in Oriental Art MARGARET HocK LEY KAL...... , ..... lnstructor in Primitive Art ANN J. CORBETT ...... Educational Assistant ALICE F. PooLE ...... Keeper of Prints MARION MORSE ...... Librarian MARYL. NooNAN ...... Secretary to the Director MARVELL ALLISON HART ...... Editor of Bulletin GEORGE W. DuNCAN ...... Superintendent of Building EDUCATIONAL DEPARTMENT The loan collection, for all teachers, contains pictures, slides, phonograph records, textiles, and a range of objects for the study of different cultures. Teachers who wish to bring classes to the Academy for talks by staff members may arrange for them by telephoning the educational office. Instruction in art and crafts is given to children during the two semesters of the school year and for a six-weeks' term in summer. The classes are held after school hours on week days and on Saturdays. LIBRARY AND PRINT DEPARTMENT Books and current magazines on art may be had for study by the public, during Academy hours, in the reference library. The privi­ lege of taking out certain books is extended to members of the Hono­ lulu Art Society only. Membership cards may be obtained in the library. All prints in the collection are available, by appointment, in the print study room. ACADEMY HOURS Sunday ...... 3 p.m.-6 p.m. Thursday ...... ! 0 a.m.-9 p.m. Tuesday ...... 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Friday ...... 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Wednesday ...... 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday ...... 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Admission is free. Staff members will conduct visitors through the Academy if desired. Wheel chairs are available. Bulletins, pub­ lished quarterly, are free. Copies will be mailed upon request.