The Volcano School refers to a group of non-native Hawaiian artists who painted dramatic nocturnal scenes of Hawaii's erupting volcanoes. Some of the artists also produced

watercolors Watercolor (American English) or watercolour (British English; see spelling differences), also ''aquarelle'' (; from Italian diminutive of Latin ''aqua'' "water"), is a painting method”Watercolor may be as old as art itself, going back to t ...

, which, by the nature of the medium, tended to be diurnal. At their best, these paintings exemplify a fusion of the European Sublime aesthetic, Romantic landscapes, and the American landscape traditions. Two volcanoes on the Island of Hawaii, Kilauea and

Mauna Loa Mauna Loa ( or ; Hawaiian: ; en, Long Mountain) is one of five volcanoes that form the Island of Hawaii in the U.S. state of Hawaii in the Pacific Ocean. The largest subaerial volcano (as opposed to subaqueous volcanoes) in both mass and ...

, were intermittently active during the 1880s and 1890s, when interest in Volcano School paintings peaked. Getting to Kilauea, the more frequently painted volcano required an arduous two- or three-day roundtrip journey on horseback. Printmaker and art educator

Huc-Mazelet Luquiens Huc-Mazelet Luquiens (1881–1961) was an American printmaker, painter and art educator who was born June 30, 1881 in Massachusetts to Jules Luquiens a French-speaking Swiss and Emma Clark who was born in Ohio. Life He graduated from Yale Uni ...

called this period "a little Hawaiian renaissance".Luquiens, Huc-Mazelet, " Jules Tavernier" in ''Honolulu Academy of Arts Annual Bulletin'', Vol. 2, 1940, p. 25

Members

Jules Tavernier (French 1844–1889) was arguably the most important Volcano School painter. Other artists include Ernst William Christmas (Australian 1863–1918), Constance Fredericka Gordon Cumming (Scottish 1837–1924),

Charles Furneaux Charles Furneaux (1835–1913) was born in Boston and became a drawing instructor in that area. For many years he lived in the town of Melrose, Massachusetts. In 1880, Furneaux moved to Hawaii, where he cultivated the friendship of King Kalakau ...

(American 1835–1913),

D. Howard Hitchcock David Howard Hitchcock (May 15, 1861 – January 1, 1943) was an American painter of the Volcano School, known for his depictions of Hawaii. Life David Howard Hitchcock was born May 15, 1861, in Hilo, Hawaii. Since his father was also named Da ...

(American 1861–1943), Ogura Yonesuke Itoh (Japanese 1870–1940), Ambrose McCarthy Patterson (Australian 1877–1966), Titian Ramsey Peale (American 1799–1885),

Louis Pohl Louis Pohl (1915 – December 22, 1999) was an American painter, illustrator, art teacher, printmaker and cartoonist. He was born in Cincinnati, Ohio in 1915. A childhood illness made it impossible to walk without pain and prevented Pohl from en ...

(American 1915–1999),

Eduardo Lefebvre Scovell Eduardo Lefebvre Scovell (1864–1918) was a British artist. He is one of the Volcano School, a group of non-native artists who painted dramatic nocturnal scenes of Hawaii's erupting volcanoes. Following his education at Eton College and the U ...

(British 1864–1918), William Pinkney Toler (American 1826–1899),

William Twigg-Smith William Twigg-Smith (né Smith; November 2, 1883 – April 21, 1950) was a New Zealand-born Painting, painter, illustrator and musician, who lived most of his life in Hawaii. During World War I, he was one of the first artists to serve in the Am ...

(New Zealander 1883–1950), Joseph Dwight Strong (American 1852–1899) and

Lionel Walden Lionel Walden (May 22, 1862WALDEN, Lionel
in ''

(American 1861–1933). A selection of Volcano School paintings is usually on display at the

Honolulu Museum of Art The Honolulu Museum of Art (formerly the Honolulu Academy of Arts) is an art museum in Honolulu, Hawaii. The museum is the largest of its kind in the state, and was founded in 1922 by Anna Rice Cooke. The museum has one of the largest single col ...

Related work

Although the American landscape painter

Frederic Edwin Church Frederic Edwin Church (May 4, 1826 – April 7, 1900) was an American landscape painter born in Hartford, Connecticut. He was a central figure in the Hudson River School of American landscape painters, best known for painting large landscapes, ...

produced similar paintings of Ecuador’s Cotopaxi Volcano during and after visits in 1853 and 1857, he is not considered a member of this group and he never visited the Hawaiian Islands.

Selected works

File:David Howard Hitchcock's oil painting 'Halemaumau, Lake of Fire', 1888.jpg, ''Halemaumau, Lake of Fire''

, 1888 File:'Kalapana, Day Seven', oil on canvas painting by --Louis Pohl--.jpg, ''Kalapana, Day Seven''

File:'Kilauea', oil on canvas painting by Ogura Yonesuke Itoh, 1908.jpg, ''Kilauea''
Ogura Yonesuke Itoh, 1908,

File:--Eduardo Lefebvre Scovell-- - 'Kilauea', oil on canvas painting by --Eduardo Lefebvre Scovell--, c. 1890.jpg, ''Kilauea''

, c. 1890 File:'Kilauea Caldera', oil on canvas painting by Ernst William Christmas, 1916-1918.jpg, ''Kilauea Caldera''
Ernst William Christmas, 1916–18 File:'Kilauea Volcano', oil on canvas painting by William Pinkney Toler, c. 1860s.jpg, ''Kilauea Volcano''
William Pinkney Toler, c. 1860s File:Jules Tavernier (1844-1889) - 'Volcano at Night', ca. 1880s, oil on canvas, 19 x 36 in.jpg, ''Volcano at Night''
Jules Tavernier, c. 1880s,

References

* Forbes, David W., "Encounters with Paradise: Views of Hawaii and its People, 1778–1941", Honolulu Academy of Arts, 1992, 173–199. *Honolulu Academy of Arts
"Mt. Kilauea, the House of the Everlasting Fire"
''Calendar News, Honolulu Academy of Arts'', Mar. /Apr. 2005. *Maier, Steven, "Jules Tavernier: Hawaii’s First Real Painter", ''Honolulu'', Nov. 1996, 80. * Severson, Don R. ''Finding Paradise: Island Art in Private Collections'', University of Hawaii Press, 2002, 88–114.

Footnotes

{{reflist - American art movements - Hawaiiana Hawaii art