Daily Honolulu press. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1886, 1885-09-30
Hatcaiian Art.

1t will take two or three weeks to
develop all the peculiar features Of the
industrial exhibition. For instance, a
new picture by Tavernier, which belongs
by right in the art department, is hung
| in the department sacred to the
advertisements of frame-maker.
With the new picture, which is, as
customary, Scene at the volcano Of
Kilauea, H. l., there is another volcano
picture which has already been de-
scrlbed in these columns The two,
with due credit to the frame-maker, are
we'll hung and artistically draped. An
arrangement is made by which they can
be lighted from below in a properly
lurid manner, thus giving them the
benefit of a highly MISREPRESENTATION.
fTavernier's first few volcano pictures
we're studies Of flame and darkness.
Into this last he lets little daylight,
and this may perhaps be interpreted
as welcome sign that pretty soon he
will begin to paint something else.
The green in the left of the foreground
is link between the known and un-
known. An atmosphere in which there
is something Of daylight pales the fires
that burst forth here and there across
the wide plain of fsmouldering lava, and
there is mellowness in the distant sky
which strikes the beholder with some
thing OF familiar charm.
Tavernier is painter who has the
true sentiment Of art. Who can forget
his admirable studies Of the Indian
country canvases that now adorn the
best of our local collections. After he
had wearied of the Indians and the
plains it was Tavernier who first dis
covered Monterey, d G., from an artistic
point OF view In his first enthusiasm
over the expresses, the fantastic coast
line, the picturesque ruins, and the his
torical suggestiveness Of il all, he pro
duced such pictures as the weird "In.
dian Sun Dance" belonging now tc
/ the collection of Edward Bosqui
Abandoning Montery, he next became
enamored of the redwoods. With hi.
bias for supernatural effects it is moi
strange that one Of his very best red
wood pictures should be pastel Of the
"Burial Of Care," owned by Genera
, Barnes. His last love is now the vol
cano Of Kilauea, and in this he has hi
fill of the supernatural ready to hand.
1t seems now that his volcano pic
Y lures, while undeniably fine, will no
: wear as well as the others. Not only
, do they transcend the limits Of the or
dinary experience, but there is in then
no constant appeal to the general i'm
agination. Take the picture of the
Monterey period, called the "Artist''
!. Dream" and owned by the Bohemian
Club. An artist, lying by the camp
: fire, traces pictures in the smoke
wreaths as they combine themselve
Z with the fantastic boughs of the cy
e press trees. No human being who ha
: ever dreamed waking dream can bt
insensible to this picture. To-day i
appeals to one Of your moods, to-mor
row to another. But in the pictures Q
r the volcano there is too much of ma
tuic dilu tOO llttiC vi uutiidi sSItitiit.ii'
A volcano is an awful phenomenon
And, while man may wish for tim
to behold an awful phenomenon,
{ ceases to appeal to him if it is. always a
his elbow.
f Yet the volcano pictures must not b
, undervalued If l had only one pic
ture to own / should not choose tn
: volcano; but if possessed gallery
+ could hardly choose more interesting
j addition to it Tavernier will produc
e at the most, four or five of these pic
lures. They cannot be duplicated
No one else is going to paint anythin
like them. Years may come and year
;. may go, and the volcano may go on 70
ever, but 1t will be long time befor
such a fiery imagination as Tavernier'
will appear to seize and fix on the car
J. vas such fiery facts as these. NngA
Buchanan in San Franciscan