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Three paintings important to Hawaiian history now on view for limited time
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 Nāwahi’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 Nāwahi’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 Nāwahi 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 Nāwahi, but only learned of the artist’s many accomplishments—as a lawyer, journalist, legislator, and artist after doing research in the state archives. Nāwahi 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.
Credit:
Images courtesy Kamehameha Schools
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