Winnifred Hudson (1905–1996) was a British-born painter who lived most of her life in Hawaii. She was born in

Sunderland, England Sunderland () is a port city in Tyne and Wear, England. It is the City of Sunderland's administrative centre and in the Historic counties of England, historic county of County of Durham, Durham. The city is from Newcastle-upon-Tyne and is on t ...

on May 21, 1905. At the age of six, she moved with her family to

Alberta, Canada Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada, provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three Canadian Prairies, prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to t ...

, where she grew up. In 1932, she came to

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only stat ...

on a vacation and liked it so much that she moved to

Honolulu Honolulu (; ) is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, which is in the Pacific Ocean. It is an unincorporated county seat of the consolidated City and County of Honolulu, situated along the southeast coast of the island ...

in 1934.Advertiser staff, "Painter Winnifred Hudson dies, ''Honolulu Advertiser'', June 20, 1996, p. 6 Hudson worked as a secretary and took courses at the

Honolulu Academy of Arts 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 ...

. At age 60, she quit her job to become a full-time artist. In 1995, at age 90, she left Hawaii to live near her family in California.Cox, Meki, "Three decades of art in the abstract come to an end", ''Honolulu Advertiser'', July 14, 1995, pp. C1-C3 She died in

Davis, California Davis is the most populous city in Yolo County, California. Located in the Sacramento Valley region of Northern California, the city had a population of 66,850 in 2020, not including the on-campus population of the University of California, Da ...

on May 10, 1996. Although also making prints and collages, Hudson is best known for her hard-edge abstract paintings with a tenuous relationship to nature.Rose, Joan, "Bidding a fond farewell", ''Honolulu Advertiser'', July 23, 1995, p. F6 ''Plant Life and Light'', in the collection of 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 ...

, is an example of how the artist subtly references nature in an otherwise abstract painting. The

Hawaii State Art Museum The No. 1 Capitol District Building, on the site of the former Armed Services YMCA Building, now houses the Hawaii State Art Museum and the Hawaii State Foundation on Culture and the Arts. History While they were both in the cabinet, under King ...

and the

are among the public collections holding work by Hudson.

References

* Hartwell, Patricia L. (editor), ''Retrospective 1967-1987'',

Hawaii State Foundation on Culture and the Arts The Hawaii State Foundation on Culture and the Arts was established by the Hawaii State Legislature in 1965 to "promote, perpetuate, preserve, and encourage culture and the arts, history and the humanities as central to the quality of life of the ...

, Honolulu, Hawaii, 1987, p. 38 * Morse, Morse (ed.), ''Honolulu Printmakers'', Honolulu Academy of Arts, Honolulu, Hawaii, 2003, , p. 61 * Yoshihara, Lisa A., ''Collective Visions, 1967-1997'',

, Honolulu, Hawaii, 1997, 119

Footnotes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hudson, Winnifred Hawaii artists Painters from Hawaii 1905 births 1996 deaths British emigrants to the United States