Art Works
Daniel Inouye, United States Senator from Hawaiʻi, has been quoted as saying, “when you saw a Herb Kāne painting, you were energized and motivated to learn about the past. …His artwork captured both ancient and modern-day Hawaiʻi and help preserve Hawaiʻi's unique culture for future generations.” Kāne became one of the most respected figurative painters in Hawaiʻi, with major works on view at the Bishop Museum, the largest museum in the state and the premier natural and cultural history institution in the Pacific. His work has been exhibited at Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park and in the Hawaiʻi State Capitol. His paintings of Polynesian sailing have been widely reproduced, appearing as illustrations in books and articles. Among the first of these were a series of seven paintings commissioned by the National Geographic Magazine and published in the December 1974 issue.
His art is characterized by emphasis on realistic and precise draftsmanship when depicting historical scenes, such as his series of voyaging canoe paintings and many other paintings of battles, everyday domestic life, and ceremonial occasions, which are extensively researched. When Kāne turns his imagination to the legends of old Hawaiʻi and the spiritual and mythological side of the Hawaiian culture, his work is more expressionistic, with bold brushwork and vivid colors. His expressionistic style is seen in his painting Pele, Goddess of the Volcano for the Jaggar Museum at Kīlauea, which depicts the supernatural figure with literal fire in her eyes and flowing lava as her hair.
Herb is well known on so many different levels. Most of Herb's art was heavily researched making sure that everything was historically accurate, even when it came to the weather and cloud coverage at that time in history. He had contacts in DC and all around the globe who helped him achieve accuracy in his research. His art was not made by someone simply reaching into their imagination. It was created by an achievement of tireless research and this all adds to the value of his paintings. Herb was the first person to accurately paint Europeans ships and more. After heavy research in the Maritime Museum in London, Herb had uncovered ship plans that they never even knew they had! He used these for some of his paintings. Herb, had also designed some large, magnificent, woven tapestries that had the breathtaking beauty of his paintings.
Read more about this topic: Herb Kawainui Kane
Famous quotes containing the words art and/or works:
“All things are artificial, for nature is the art of God.”
—Thomas Browne (1605–1682)
“Separatism of any kind promotes marginalization of those unwilling to grapple with the whole body of knowledge and creative works available to others. This is true of black students who do not want to read works by white writers, of female students of any race who do not want to read books by men, and of white students who only want to read works by white writers.”
—bell hooks (b. 1955)