Cathy's Art Diary

Enlightening online lecture from the British Museum focusing on the portraits of the king and queen of Hawai’i in the Hawai’i exhibition at the museum. Three speakers, Healoha Johnson, Bernice Pauahi Bishop Museum on Hawai’i, Kate Lemay, Army College Museum, and Alice Christophe, curator of the exhibition, told us the story of King Liholiho and Queen Kamamalu’s visit to Britain in 1823 and how and why they had their portraits painted while they were there. Sadly they both died of measles during the trip. They talked about the history of using Western portrait painters in Hawai’i and how this was done to present the monarchs to the world and the images were circulated via traders and sailors. They then discussed why they chose to be presented in Western clothes and how these were purchased as well as looking at why the prime minister, Na Poki, and his wife chose to be shown in Hawaiian clothes.  

Interesting exhibition at the British Museum tracing the relationship between Hawai'I and the United Kingdom. The show marked 200 years since the first royal Hawaiian visit to London. I'd not come across this event before and found it fascinating to learn how King Liholiho and his queen Kamamalu   with an entourage had come to see George IV but sadly the monarchs died of measles while they were here. The show started by looking at the early history of the Hawaiian Islands and their culture leading up to their unification into one kingdom in 1810. The show was very careful to document the provenance of the objects on display, many of which had entered the collection as the result of the travels of Captain Cook and other British explorers. There were some beautiful objects in the show and care had been taken to consult the Hawaiian community in London to honour the items but the core of the show was the tragic story of the visit and the aftermath when the bodies were retur...