The Hawaiian star. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu]) 1893-1912, 1901-11-25
LOCAL COLOR IN LANDSCAPE
EXHIBIT.
roculIonucs off Hawaiian Color Tones.
Howard Hitchcock and Th.1d1r,
Worcs Cauyases

There is % ppCuliaritv about the ate
mosphcrc of the Hawaiian Islands that
! rs emphatically distir ctivc OF the place.
! This is due without uoubt To- the geo.
graphical situation, which Is different
I'm many respects from almost anywhere
| else
The visiting artist comes here with
visions of tropical island i'm his
minds eye. He has already pictured
sunshine and purple shade, unknown
vegetation and wierd mountain forms.
Perhaps he has painted before i'm other
countries where palms grow and the
sun shines all the year with basking
warmth.
Arrived here he finds the sunshine
brilliant but clear, he finds the volcanic
shapes of riven ranges, the vivid color
| ing and to a great extent unknown We
getation, he can, if he search, find the
rank underground but he inevitably
discovers many subjects that, if painted
would show but few distinctvely tro-
pical attributes.
There is no shimmering outline Of
mountain sides in the heat, no trem-
bling heat mist i'm the valleys. The
chief peculiarities and distinctions lie
in the intense COlOTing. the violet
shadows of the mountain hollows and
the wonderful distributing value Of Fia-
waiian moonlight This is of course
setting aside entirely the Volcano and
its phases.
The fact is that we are only in the
semi-tropics here Vegetation is rife.
vines cling and parasitic plants In pro-
fusion choke the life out of the forest
trees but it is not the tropical Vegeta-
ton of the Brazils for example not the
forests of the Amazon and the Ornoco
where the parasites are orchids whose
brilliant hues are only matched with
the butterflies that sip their nectar.
But the mote is too often in the visi-
tors eye and he paints as his fancy
sees, through imagination's spectacles,
eschews the really typical scenes of the
place and looks only for those bits that
approach most closely to what his pre-
conceived ideas of the Islands led him
to expect.
The man who has mastered best the
coloring of the islands has been the
one who has been an earnest and per-
sistent student for some time, Howard
Hitchcock. Mr. Hitchcocks works are
at times uncertain as a view of the
Kilohana present exhibit will disclose, /
but it should be taken into COnsidera- |
ton that Mr.. Hitchcock's canvases. |
year in and year out. constitute the
main stay of the exhibition and he is in |
a measure compelled to contribute all /
his canVases, many of which are mere |
~ pltDdld loIN 70 more elaborate PIC 2
lures, in order to make the exhibit
sufficiently large to make creditable
showing. In a larger community the
artist would merely choose a few of his
chef doeuNres and reserve his Other
endeavors until he had worked them
out to his own final satisfaction.
Mr.. HitchcoCk's york has paluably
improved from year to year in verify
of coloring as far as his landscape is
4 81.
furnished him with some subjects which
he turned to excellent account. In the
present exhibit he himself accounts
gap Of Nuuanu valley as his best can
vas but it hardly possesses the truism
and vitality that Punchbowl from Judd
street contains, although a more finish
ed canvas.
Sun rise on Mauna Kea is an effective
picture with much feeling
and a delightfully."- painted effect on the
distant mountain. The middle distances
and indeed the foreground, show a
somewhat uncertain key although con-
utbuting to a most satisfactory picture
Perhaps the marked values of several
of the paintings by this artist, prevail
in the sky effects which are excellent.
The volcano picture treated in some
what novel style from the usual run is
very effective
Mr.. Wores has several canvases that
have been shown here before, but is not
yet ready to reveal the full results Of
his work. one or two small canvases
from Waialua give promise of inter-
esting disclosures at the coming per-
sonal exhibition Of his Hawaiian work.
The fisher boy is his most important
work in the KilOhana gallery. All show
a tightening grip on Hawaiian color
that has not yet been reached by other
visiting artists