Since its beginning in 1927, the Honolulu Museum of Art has strived to give all Hawaiian citizens -- be they native Hawaiians, Americans, Chinese, Japanese, Koreans, Filipinos, or Europeans -- an intimation of their ancestral cultures while providing a new "Hawaiian" culture, enriched by the diverse artistic traditions of its citizenry. The museum contains over 50,000 pieces with significant holdings of Asian, American and European paintings, as well as Asian textiles, African works, relics of Oceania and the Americas.

Of course, members of the Volcano School also painted Hawaiian landscapes, scenes of daily island life, and portraits, giving us us a sense of 19th and early 20th century Hawaii. Lionel Walden (1861-1933) was born in Connecticut, studied painting in Paris, exhibited at the Salon and was made a knight in the French Legion of Honor. The Musee D'Orsay and the Brooklyn Museum also have works by Lionel Walden in their collections.

Theodore Wores (1859-1939) traveled the world. He was a San Franciscan who studied painting in Munich, painted with William Merritt Chase, painted in Japan, and exhibited in London where he became friends of James McNeil Whistler and Oscar Wilde. He had two extended stays in the Islands in 1901-02 and 1910-11. His most famous painting is The Lei Maker. He befriended and painted with California's Grace Hudson during her Hawaiian visit in 1901, and was recently featured in the "Days of Grace" exhibition at the Grace Hudson Museum in Ukiah, CA. Grace Hudson is most famous for her portraits of Native American subjects.

Joseph Strong (1852-1899) lived in Honolulu in the 1850's for a few years while growing up. His father was pastor of the Congregational Church in Honolulu on 4th Street. His father then relocated to Oakland in 1859. Young Joseph studied painting at the California School of Design with Virgil Williams. He next studied in Munich, returning to San Francisco where he became an active member of the Bohemian Club. He was close friends with Jules Tavernier. In 1881, he and Taverier took over an entire floor of a building at 728 Montgomery Street for living quarters and studios. The location quickly became the social center of the San Francisco art scene. On one occasion, Strong and Tavernier threw a memorable party for the visiting playwright Oscar Wilde.

But the high life of San Francisco proved too much for Joseph -- too much alcohol, and too little artistic output. He relocated to Hawaii in 1882, only to have Tavernier follow him out to the islands in 1885. In 1887, the Hawaiian Embassy appointed Strong as the official artist for Samoa. He executed many paintings of that island.

In 1939, Georgia O'Keeffe (1887-1986) came to the islands. Her artistic life seemed stalled. To reinvigorate her artistic life, she accepted a commercial commission, to paint pineapple plants in Hawaii to be used in advertising. Upon her arrival in the islands, Pineapple executives wanted to dictate to Georgia what to paint and restricted her access to the pineapple plantations, as it would be inappropriate to allow a woman to roam the plantations unaccompanied.

Obviously, none of these pineapple executives had a clue as to the artistic temperament of Georgia O'Keeffe or the strength of her personal will. Put off by their attempt to manage her, Georgia arranged to visit outer islands and see Hawaii on her own terms.

She ended up staying with a family who managed a sugar plantation in Hana on the Island of Maui. The family's daughter, Patricia Jennings, served as Georgia's guide as they made painting excursions about Maui. To the right are two of four paintings Georgia did in Maui's Ioa Valley. See our January issue for more Georgia's 1939 visit.

The Honolulu Museum of Art's American and European collections are impressive. The collection includes works by the most notable impressionists and post impressionists from both France and the United States. Here is a sampling of some of their treasures.

The original windmill "Moulin de la Galette" was known as "Blute-fin." It was built in 1622 and comes from the French verb "bluter" meaning sifting flour for the separation from bran. It was joined by another windmill called "Radet" in 1717. The two mills were acquired by the The Debray family 1809.

A gruesome history ... At the end of the Napoleonic Wars in 1814, Paris was under siege. At the mills, three Debray family members lost their lives while defending the mill, and one of their millers was killed. For dramatic effect, his body was nailed to one of the wings of the windmill. Fifty-five years later during the Franco-Prussian War (1870-71), Montmartre was attacked by 20,000 Prussian troops. Restaurateur Pierre-Charles Debray was killed and nailed to the wings of the windmill, just as had been done to one of the Debray's millers a half century earlier at the end of the Napoleonic Wars.

When the Napoleonic Wars ended, there was a major change for the windmills. In the 1830's, rather than milling wheat, the location was transformed into a guinguette and a restaurant. Guinguettes were dancing venues, often accompanied by a restaurant and featuring a local white wine. The name of the Mill "Moulin du la Galette" was kept by this new business. "Galette" a well loved local treat, a rough brown bread which was produced by the flour which had been milled at the site for years.

After the Franco-Prussian War, locals, including Montmartre's collection of near penniless Bohemian writers, musicians, composers, artists and models, all frequented the Moulin de la Galette.

Like other places in Montmartre such as Le Chat Noir and the Moulin Rouge, it was one of the thriving locations where locals met one another and shared in the Parisian joie de vivre.

Is there anything to be learned from this location about how the Montmartre artistic community proved over time to be such hotbed of creative artistic output?

Certainly, part of the answer lies in the fact Paris had just survived a war, and Parisians were eager to forget the dangers and deprivations and once to again, enjoy life.

But that may not be the entire answer. Today, we too enjoy peace. Perhaps, part of the answer can be attained by comparing our times with theirs.

Although we have a capacity today for instant world wide communication and lightening fast sharing of ideas, individuals spend far less time conversing, meeting, sharing and enjoying life together.

The leisure time artists had in the late 19th century was often spent in cafes and cabarets, sharing conversation and dancing while sipping coffee, wine and absinthe. They had no television, radio, or internet to sap their communal sharing.

My first experience with Archibald Motley came as a surprise. Having just walked through the Art Institute of Chicago's French Impressionist and Post Impressionist paintings, and hanging close to Picasso's "The Guitar Player," there I saw Archibald Motley's lively and captivating "Nightlife." The whole of the painting was a visual delight, with colorful rhythm and percussion equal to the jazz reverberating among the figures.

The scene's movement drew me in. Throbbing with life, jazz and color, here was a party I wanted to attend. I knew this was a painting I wanted to remember and I vowed to learn more of the artist. And now, with this touring exhibition, you too can get to know of Archibald Motley, and visit this fascinating American painting exhibition.

Archibald Motley was a native of New Orleans and graduated the Art Institute in Chicago in 1918 at the age of 27. He is best known for painting the vibrancy of African American life in the jazz age of the 1920's and 1930's.

Although Archibald Motley never lived in Harlem, he is recognized as a major contributor of the Harlem Renaissance. His specialty was portraiture which he believed gave him an avenue to elevate the dignity of his race, showing the strength, beauty and character of his subjects,

He enjoyed success early in his career. His painting "Mending Socks" was voted the favorite exhibition 1927 at the Newark Museum of Art. His paintings sold well at exhibition and he was awarded the Harmon Foundation Award in 1928

He applied for a Guggenheim Fellowship in 1927 and won the fellowship in 1929. He found his greatest inspiration among the great Renaissance painters exhibited at the Louvre and among the artists of the Dutch Golden Age. Inspired by these styles, he applied them in new ways to the African American experience.

He was among the first to paint black female nudes, which up until his time, had not been done.

Motley was of mixed racial heritage and was fascinated with skin color, exploring it in many of his paintings.

He never really fit or felt comfortable in any category. He didn't think of himself as being "white" or "black." His wife was white, but certainly her race did not concern him. He instead explored his own racial identity by painting the range of colors found across the racial spectrum.

He explored skin color with paintings of "octoroon," "quadroon," and "mulatto." But the subjects in these paintings cannot be riveted to one definition or another. Without the title of "octoroon," racial mix doesn't matter in appreciating these pleasing portraits on their own merit.

This was Motley's way of saying in a very compelling artistic manner, that such distinctions are useless. To define anyone with physical markers of blackness is an unstable, unreliable, and a meaningless and degrading exercise.

His most popular paintings depicted the black jazz culture in Chicago's Bronzeville neighborhood. His lively and colorful street and club scenes show individuals interacting with one another while simultaneously showing viewers the big picture, giving a full context for the joy and life for his subjects.

The observer can't help but noticing something is going on, something inviting and lively. One can't help but want to join in the fun. His works speak for themselves. It is Motley's visual invitation to recognize and celebrate and dance to rhythms and the beauty of it all.

If you hadn't known of him before, please remember the name Archibald Motley and count him among those you consider to be among the pantheon of great American painters.

Bentonville, AR
Crystal Bridges
Museum of American Art