Art of Hawai‘i and the Pacific
The Honolulu Museum of Art is home to a collection of artworks from Hawai‘i and the Pacific region that represent a multitude of forms, traditional practices, and contemporary processes. With more than 1,300 objects, the collection features sculpture, woven and plaited works, bark cloth (or kapa), wood vessels, paintings, and feather work by Indigenous and Hawai‘i-based artists and artisans. Traditional pieces include a late-18th–early-19th-century Hawaiian akua kā‘ai (stick image), a 19th- to early-20th-century breast pendant (ålas) from the Mariana Islands, and a 19th- to 20th-century carved wood male figure from Papua New Guinea. Notably, the collection holds a significant number of 20th- and 21st-century works by Hawai‘i-based artists including Charles Bartlett, Sean K.L. Browne, Marie Leilehua McDonald, Madge Tennent, John Young, and Tseng Yuho
Highlights from the collection
Coexistence: Stephead
Ray Yoshida (American, 1930–2009). 1988. Oil on canvas. Gift of The Contemporary Museum, Honolulu, 2011, and gift of the artist (TCM.1998.46.2)
Woman with Gas Mask and Children in Bunny Hoods
Madge Tennent (British, 1889–1972). c. 1942–1945. Oil on canvas. Gift of The Contemporary Museum, Honolulu, 2011, and gift of Donald Angus (TCM.1984.1.1523)
Untitled
Bumpei Akaji (American, 1921–2002). 1980 Copper and brass. Gift of The Contemporary Museum, Honolulu, 2011, and gift of the artist, 1981 (TCM.1981.1.988)
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)
Kolomona: Hawaiian Troubadour
Hubert Vos (American, 1855–1935). 1898. Oil on canvas. Gift of Charlotte and Henry B. Clark Jr., 1994 (7676.1)
Kailua-Kona with Hualālai, Hulihe‘e Palace and Church
James Gay Sawkins (British, 1806–1878). 1852. Oil on canvas. Purchase, 1992 (7064.1)
The Lei Maker
Theodore Wores (American, 1859–1939). 1901. Oil on canvas. Gift of Drs. Ben and A. Jess Shenson, 1986 (5490.1)
The Volcano at Night
Jules Tavernier (French, 1844–1889). c. 1885–1889. Oil on canvas. Gift of Mrs. E. Faxon Bishop, 1959 (2562.1)
The Farthest Shore
Melissa Chimera (American, born 1972). 2019. Oil, ink, and silk on linen. Purchase, 2019 (2019-6-01)
Twin Trees
Satoru Abe (American, born 1926). 1968. Welded copper, bronze, lead. Gift of The Contemporary Museum, Honolulu, 2011, and gift of Ian M. and Janet R. Cooke, from the estate of J. Russell and Charlotte M. Cades (TCM.2002.51)
Lei Sellers
Juliette May Fraser (American, 1887–1983). 1941. Oil on canvas. Purchase, 1942 (92.1)
Tammeamea (Kamehameha I)
Louis Choris (Russian, 1795–1828). 1816. Pen and ink, ink wash, and watercolor on paper. Purchase, 2005 (28203)
Surf-Riders. Honolulu.
Charles W. Bartlett (British, 1860–1940). c. 1919–1920. Color woodblock print. Gift of James A. Michener, 1991 (26796)
Early Traders of Hawai‘i
Arman Tateos Manookian (American, born Turkey, 1904–1931). c. 1927. Gouache and ink on paper mounted on cardboard. Gift of the Estate of Aneliese Lermann, 1998 (26469)
Costumes
Jacques Etienne Victor Arago (French, 1790–1855). 1819. Watercolor and ink wash over graphite on paper Gift of Frances Damon Holt in memory of John Dominis Holt, 1996 (25818)
Homage to the Gods
Marguerite Louis Blasingame (American, 1906–1947). c. 1930. Spruce. Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Michael D. Horikawa, 2007 (13716.1)
Stallions in Motion
John Young (American, 1909–1997). 1996. Sumi ink and wash on paper. Gift of John Young, 1997 (8760.1)
‘Ahu‘ula (feather cape)
Anonymous (Hawai‘i). late 18th–early 19th century. ‘I‘iwi and ‘o‘o feathers tied to a netting of olonā bark. Gift of Mrs. John Dominis Holt, 1995 (7927.1)
Gourd Player in a Hala Grove
Jean Charlot (American, born France, 1898–1979). 1965. Oil on canvas. Gift from the children in memory of Sara Garvey Thompson, 1992 (7050.1
Seagulls
Tseng Yu-ho (Betty Ecke) (American, born China, 1925–2017). 1965. Assembled painting, gold and paper on screen. Gift of Sister Sara Kay Thompson and Philip Thompson in memory of their mother Marie Sara Garvey Thompson, 1992 (7049.1)
Uli Figure
Anonymous (Central New Ireland , Papua New Guinea). 19th–early 20th century. Carved wood, lime, pigments, fiber, opercula. Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Henry B. Clark, Jr., 1989 (6032.1)
Tino Aitu (ancestor figure)
Anonymous (Nukuoro Atoll, Caroline Islands, Federated States of Micronesia). 19th century (collected 1874). Carved wood Exchange with Bishop Museum, 1943 (4752)
Akua Kā‘ai (stick image)
Anonymous (Hawai‘i). late 18th–early 19th century. ‘Iliahi (sandalwood). Purchase, 1962 (3075.1)
Open Vessel
Ron Kent (American, 1931–2018). 2006. Norfolk Island pine. Gift of Ruth and David Waterbury, 2014 (2014-9-11)
Tall Ocean Edge Closed Form
Toshiko Takaezu (American, 1922–2011). c. 1980. Glazed porcelain. Gift of The Contemporary Museum, Honolulu, 2011, and gift of the Artist (TCM.2007.5.24)
Orpheus
Sean K.L. Browne (American, born 1953). 1987. Cast bronze Gift of The Contemporary Museum, Honolulu, 2011, and gift of the artist (TCM.1994.4)
Ålas (tortoise shell breast pendant)
Anonymous (Chamorro people, Mariana Islands). 19th–early 20th century. Carved hawksbill sea turtle scute. Purchase, 1954 (1946.1)