Three paintings important to Hawaiian history now on view for limited time

On April 16, members of the Royal Order of Kamehameha I came to the museum to bless the installation of three exceptional 19th-century paintings now on view at HoMA. Rarely accessible to the public, these are works of deep cultural and historical importance to Hawai‘i and will be on loan to HoMA for about two years.

Two of the paintings are by British court painter John Hayter, one of Governor of O‘ahu Boki and his wife Liliha, and another of Queen Kamāmalu, and Joseph Nāwahī’s landscape of Hilo Bay, famous for its 2006 appearance on Antiques Roadshow after it was “discovered” in an antique shop on Hawai‘i Island.

For the blessing, Ikaika Bantolina (whose portrait was in the exhibition Kapulani Landgraf: ‘Au‘a) did three oli: ‘O ‘Oe Ia E Ka Honi, in honor of Kamehameha I (high chiefess Ululani of Hilo composed it in the late 18th century to welcome him to Hawai‘i Island); Wai Kalani, acknowledging Governor of O‘ahu Boki; and A Waho Mākou acknowledging those who were in the gallery.

“The Honolulu Museum of Art is honored to share this historic art with a wider audience,” says Catherine Whitney, HoMA’s director of curatorial affairs. “These significant works enhance the stories we are telling in our galleries.”

The paintings, usually displayed at Kamehameha Schools’ Kapālama campus, are being loaned to HoMA to accommodate renovations scheduled for the next two years. 

The iconic oil painting Boki, Governor of O‘ahu of the Sandwich Islands, and his wife Liliha, by Hayter, is in the museum’s Portrait Gallery. The painting was done in 1824 in London, when the couple were part of King Kamehameha II’s delegation. The king and queen tragically contracted measles and died while in Britain, leaving Boki to lead the delegation home. The portrait has an interesting history. It was considered “lost” until John Dominis Holt (who, with his wife Patches, endowed HoMA’s Arts of Hawai‘i Gallery) hired someone to track it down. The painting was found in a collection in Scotland, and Holt purchased it then donated the work to Kamehameha Schools. While the Midkiff Learning Center was being constructed, the painting was on view at HoMA from May to June 1976.

A second painting by Hayter, Queen Kamāmalu, Consort of Kamehameha II, and Nāwahī’s landscape will be on view in the John Dominis and Patches Damon Holt Gallery of the Arts of Hawai‘i.

It is also not the first time the Nāwahī painting has been on loan to HoMA. Bruce and Jackie Mahi Erickson bought the work at an antique shop on Hawai‘i Island in 1984. They were aware the painting was by Joseph Nāwahī, but only learned of the artist’s many accomplishments—as a lawyer, journalist, legislator, and artist after doing research in the state archives. Nāwahī was the first Native Hawaiian to paint in a Western style. In 2006, Jackie had the painting appraised on the TV series Antiques Roadshow when it was in town. She and her husband donated the rare work to Kamehameha Schools, her alma mater. From 2007 to 2009, the painting was on view at HoMA while the Bernice Pauahi Bishop Heritage Center was being built.

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Members of the Royal Order of Kamehameha I with Hayter’s portrait of Boki and Liliha. From right to left: Henry Wassman, Ikaika Bantolina, Harry Ka‘u, Kalei Chang, and Tory Laitila, HoMA’s curator of textiles and historic arts of Hawai‘i and an honorary member of the order.

Credit
Images courtesy Kamehameha Schools