Modern and Contemporary Art
The Honolulu Museum of Art’s modern and contemporary holdings include roughly 13,500 works across media spanning the early-20th century to the present day. The collection is especially strong in American art and includes sculpture by Nick Cave, Louise Nevelson, and Viola Frey; paintings by Robert Colescott, Helen Frankenthaler, and Georgia O’Keeffe; and significant works by Hawaiʻi-based artists Satoru Abe, Isami Doi, Kapulani Landgraf, Tadashi Sato, Toshiko Takaezu, and Masami Teraoka. In 2023 the museum acquired 55 prints by African American artists from the collection of Jean and Robert Steele including 12 works by Faith Ringgold. The collection continues to grow and evolve, reflecting the richly diverse, global art of the present day.
Highlights from the collection
Surf and Water Reflections
Tadashi Sato (American, 1923–2005). 1969–1970. Oil on canvas. Gift of The Contemporary Museum, Honolulu, 2011, and gift of the Honolulu Advertiser Collection at Persis Corporation, 1974 (TCM.1974.1.239)
Soundsuit 8:46
Nick Cave (American, born 1959). 2021. Mixed media including vintage textile and sequined appliqués, metal, and mannequin. Museum purchase with funds from the James Jensen Acquisition Fund for Contemporary Art, 2021 (2021-04-01)
Waterfall—No. III—‘Iao Valley
Georgia O’Keeffe (American, 1887–1986). 1939. Oil on canvas. Gift of Susan Crawford Tracy, 1996 (8562.1)
Kapa
Marie Leilehua McDonald (American, 1926–2019). 2008. Wauke (Broussonettia papyrifera) beaten fiber with watermark, hand application of pigments including use of ‘ohe kapala (bamboo stamp) of ‘aiakanēnē (Coprosma erniodeoides), ‘alaea (Bixa orellana), ‘alaea (water soluble colloidal ocherous earth), hāhā (Delissea rhytidosperma), kukui (Aleurites molucanna), ‘ōlena (Curcuma longa), pōpolo (Solanum nigrum). Gift of Na Hoala Kapa (Happy Tamanaha, Moana Eisele, Alyse Ikeoka, Jan Yoneda, Pam Barton, Pam Lipscomb, and Ann Asakura), 2009 (14059.1)
The Wheel
Satoru Abe (American, born 1926). 1973. Welded copper and bronze. Gift of the Hawaii Community Foundation, Keiji Kawakami Art Foundation Fund, 1992 (6900.1)
Black Zag X
Louise Nevelson (American, 1899–1988). 1969. Wood, paint, Formica. Gift of the Estate of the Honorable Clare Boothe Luce, 1988 (5719.1)
Turning
Morris Louis (American, 1912–1962). 1958. Acrylic resin paint on canvas. Purchased with Academy funds and funds from Academy Volunteers, 1971 (3997.1)
Marisol
Alice Neel (American, 1900–1984). 1981. Oil on canvas. Purchase, gifts of Clare Boothe Luce and Mr. and Mrs. Howard Wise, by exchange; Prisanlee and Robert Allerton Funds, 1988 (5717.1)
Linea Alba
Alfonso A. Ossorio (American, born Philippines, 1916–1990). 1968. Assemblage of miscellaneous objects on wood support. Gift of the Hon. Clare Boothe Luce, 1975 (4323.1)
ʻAuʻa
Kapulani Landgraf ( Kānaka ‘Ōiwi; Hawaiʻi, born 1966). 2019. 108 black-and-white digital photographs, sound. Purchase, 2019 (2019-27-01)
Object with Yellow Background
Alexander Calder (American, 1898–1976). 1936. Plywood, sheet metal, rod, string, and paint. Gift of Mrs. Theodore A. Cooke, 1962 (3014.1)
Sun Frame
Helen Frankenthaler (American, 1928–2011). 1966 . Acrylic on canvas. Purchase, Margaret Emerson Fund, 1966 (3386.1)
Left Behind 2 Again
Mickalene Thomas (American, born 1971). 2014. Relief, intaglio, lithography, digital printing, collage, enamel paint. Purchase, 2014 (2014-39-01)
Fire Suit with Large Yellow Hands
Viola Frey (American, 1933–2004). 1982–1983. Glazed stoneware. Gift of Sharon Twigg-Smith, 2020 (2020-01-01)
Hawaii Snorkel Series/Longing Samurai
Masami Teraoka (American, born Japan 1936). 1992. Twenty-four-color woodcut, etching, and aquatint printed from one copper plate and eleven woodblocks on natural Fuji handmade paper. Gift of Catherine Clark Gallery, San Francisco, 2007 (31156)
Landscape
Li Huayi (Chinese, born 1948). 1997–1998. Ink and color on paper. Gift of Denis and Kathy Yang, 2011 (14404.1)
Untitled
Lee Bontecou (American, 1931–2022). 1964. Welded steel, canvas, saw blades, soot, and wire. Purchase, 1968 (3545.1)
Ocean Park No. 78
Richard Diebenkorn (American, 1922–1993). 1975. Oil and charcoal on canvas. Purchase, National Endowment for the Arts grant and matching funds, 1975 (4346.1)
Cherries III
Philip Guston (American, born Canada, 1913–1980). 1976. Oil on canvas. Gift of Musa Guston, 1992 (7008.1)
Judy Crook, 9
Jennifer Steinkamp (American, born 1958). 2017. Single-channel digital video projection. Gift of Sharon Twigg-Smith in honor of Jay Jensen, 2020 (2020-01-02)
Early Spring
Isami Doi (American, 1903–1965). 1960. Oil on canvas. Purchase, 1966 (3428.1)
Shirley Temple Black (Aloha Shirley)
Robert Colescott (American, 1925–2009). 1980. Acrylic on canvas. Gift of Dawn and Duncan MacNaughton, 2017 (2017-31-02)
Haru
Toshiko Takaezu (American, 1922–2011). 1992. Glazed stoneware. Gift of The Contemporary Museum, Honolulu, 2011, and gift of the artist (TCM.2007.5.22)
Electric Chairs
Andy Warhol (American, 1928–1987). 1971. Color screenprints. Gift of The Contemporary Museum, Honolulu, 2011, and purchased with funds given by The Shidler Family Foundation, Peter and Amy Russell, Reginald and Annette Kwok, and The Friends of The Contemporary Museum (TCM.1996.29.1 – 10)
Trophy V (for Jasper Johns)
Robert Rauschenberg (American, 1925–2008). 1962. Combine painting on canvas. Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Frederick R. Weisman in honor of James W. Foster, 1971 (4022.1)
Temple School
Hung Liu (American, born China, 1948–2021). 1996. Oil on canvas. Gift of the Estate of Joyce L. Stupski, 2021 (2021-07-03)
Untitled (from The Alquimias series)
Olga de Amaral, (Colombian, born 1932). 1989. Acrylic, gold leaf and woven fiber. Gift of The Contemporary Museum, Honolulu, 2011, and gift of The Dell Family and MSD Capital, L.P. (TCM.2008.11a-c)