Honolulu Museum of Art

A Virtual Tour of the Honolulu Museum of Art

Prayers at Sunset, Udaipur, India by Charles W. Bartlett
“Miono-Matsubara” by Charles W Bartlett
“Female Figure” from the Cyclades: Greek Island Group in the Aegean Sea
Sarcophagus Relief Depicting Labors of Hercules
Male Torso of the Hermes Richelieu Type
“The Bath: Woman Sponging Her Back” by Edgar Degas
“Water Lilies” by Claude Monet
“Seated Nude” by Amedeo Modigliani
False Face Society Mask
Waterfalls by Katsushika Hokusai
Arrangement in Black, No. 5″ by James Abbott McNeill Whistler

Highlights Tour of the Honolulu Museum of Art

Prayers at Sunset, Udaipur, India by Charles W. Bartlett

“Prayers at Sunset, Udaipur, India” by Charles W. Bartlett depicts the Maghrib prayer in Udaipur in India. The Maghrib prayer or the “West [sun] prayer” is prayed just after sunset and is the fourth of five formal daily prayers performed by practicing Muslims.

This scene beautifully portrays Udaipur, which is also known as the “City of Lakes” or the “Venice of the East.” It is a major city of the Udaipur district in the Indian state of Rajasthan.

“Miono-Matsubara” by Charles W Bartlett

“Miono-Matsubara” by Charles W Bartlett depicts Miho no Matsubara, which was renowned as a seashore with beautiful green pine trees and sand spanning over seven kilometers.

It has scenic views of Mount Fuji and the Izu Peninsula across Suruga Bay. It has an old pine tree dating back 650 years.

Bartlett was one of the very first Western artists to publish his works in the Japanese woodblock print form, which led to the rejuvenation of this genre and the Shin-Hanga movement in western art circles.

“Female Figure” from the Cyclades: Greek Island Group in the Aegean Sea

This “Female Figurine” is from a Bronze Age cemetery in the Cyclades, a group of islands in the Aegean Sea located east of the mainland of Greece. It is a late example of figures called the Spedos Variety, named after an ancient cemetery site on the Cycladic island of Naxos.

This example is unusual in its large size, however consistent in the style which consists of a lyre-shaped head and a torso that is relatively flat except for the nose and the modeling and incised lines delineating the various limbs and critical elements of the body.

This example retains hints of pigment in the face with red dots across both cheeks, the nose, and the forehead. The pigment is cinnabar, a bright red mineral, which was very precious at the time as it was imported from outside the Aegean.

Sarcophagus Relief Depicting Labors of Hercules

This “Sarcophagus Relief depicting the Labors of Hercules” was a popular image on Roman sarcophagi, as the wealthy deceased paid homage to a Greco-Roman hero and god.

He was celebrated for his enormous strength. Representations of Hercules twelve labors, as related by ancient legends, were sculptured on all sides of a sarcophagus of the period.

Hercules was a Roman hero and god, adapted from the Greek divine hero Heracles, who was the son of Zeus, the Roman equivalent Jupiter.

In classical mythology, Hercules is famous for his strength and his deeds, which took him to the far reaches of the Greco-Roman world and became known as the “Twelve Labors” of Hercules.

Male Torso of the Hermes Richelieu Type

This “Male Torso” is thought to belong to the “Hermes Richelieu” type because of its similarity to a statue of Hermes in the Richelieu wing of the Louvre. Hermes is an Olympian god in Greek religion and mythology, the son of Zeus.

In the Roman adaptation of the Greek pantheon, Hermes is identified with the Roman god Mercury and developed many similar associations and subtle differences.

This sculpture was created around the mid-second century B.C. in Rome and combined the idealized body of a Greek styled god with the naturalistic portrait head of a wealthy Roman citizen.

“The Bath: Woman Sponging Her Back” by Edgar Degas

“The Bath: Woman Sponging Her Back” by Edgar Degas depicts a female bather as she bends forward in her tub and sponges her back.

This pastel drawing is part of a series of drawings, preliminary sketches in pastels and oils by Degas from this period that depict women bathing. Degas often used sketches as an initial step to study the light and the composition for his paintings.

This work is part of a series of preliminary sketches in pastels which depict women bathing, some showing women in awkward, unnatural positions. Degas said he intended to create a feeling in the viewer: “as if you looked through a keyhole.”

“Water Lilies” by Claude Monet

In “Water Lilies,” Claude Monet depicts his water-lily pond, from his garden in Giverny.

Monet captured the continually changing qualities of light, color, water, sky, and lilies by dissolving all the elements in what he expressed as: “the refuge of peaceful meditation in the center of a flowering aquarium.”

Claude Monet painted nearly 250 paintings in his series of “Water Lilies.” The paintings depict Monet’s flower garden at his home, which was the primary focus of Monet’s artistic endeavors during the last thirty years of his life.

Monet painted many of his later works while suffering from cataracts.

“Seated Nude” by Amedeo Modigliani

“Seated Nude” by Amedeo Modigliani is one of the dozens of nudes created by Modigliani in a modern style characterized by elongation of faces and figures that echo precursors such as Titian, Goya, and Velázquez.

However, Modigliani’s figures differ significantly in the level of raw sensuality they transmit.

Unlike depictions of female nudes from the Renaissance to the nineteenth century, where female nudity is couched in mythology or allegory, this series of paintings are without any such context, highlighting the painting’s eroticism.

In this painting, the woman’s elongated face and highly simplified features derive Modigliani’s study of Egyptian, African, and Oceanic sculpture.

False Face Society Mask

The “False Face Society Mask” is best known for its role as part of the ritual in the medicinal communities among some of the Native American Indians. These masks were used in healing rituals that invoke the spirit of an ancient hunch-backed healing man called “Old Broken Nose.”

During healing ceremonies, a carved “False Face Mask” is worn to represent spirits in an ancient tobacco-burning and prayer ritual. “False Face Masks” are carved in living trees, then cut free to be painted and decorated.

The design of the masks is somewhat variable, but most share certain standard features. The eyes are deep-set, and the noses are bent and crooked.

The masks are painted red and black. Often they have pouches of tobacco tied onto the hair above their foreheads. Horsetail hair is used for the hair, but before the introduction of horses by the Europeans, corn husks and buffalo hair were used.

When making a mask, a “False Face Society” member walks through the woods until he is moved by the healing spirit of “Old Broken Nose” to carve a mask from a tree. The unique elements of the mask’s design represent the spirit himself, imbued with his powers.

“A Tour of the Waterfalls of the Provinces” by Katsushika Hokusai

“A Tour of the Waterfalls of the Provinces” by Katsushika Hokusai is a series of landscape woodblock prints by the Japanese ukiyo-e artist Hokusai.

Completed between 1833–34 and containing eight prints, it was the first ukiyo-e series to approach the theme of falling water.

The waterfalls take up most of each print, dwarfing the scenes’ human inhabitants, which are rendered by Hokusai with a powerful sense of life, reflecting his animistic beliefs.

Horse-Wax Waterfall
Roben Waterfall at Mount Oyama in Sagami Province
Kirifuri Waterfall at Kurokami Mountain in Shimotsuke
Waterfall at Aoi Hill
Yōrō Waterfall in Mino Province
Travelers climbing a steep hill to reach the Kannon sanctuary
Ono Waterfall on the Kisokaidō
Amida Falls in the Far Reaches of the Kisokaido

Arrangement in Black, No. 5″ by James Abbott McNeill Whistler

“Arrangement in Black, No. 5” by James Abbott McNeill Whistler was his first significant commission after his bankruptcy. Whistler had become bankrupt in 1879, following his lawsuit against the critic John Ruskin.

Her full-length portrait, known as Arrangement in Black, No. 5, shows Lady Meux dressed in black with a long white fur coat, diamond tiara, diamond necklace, and diamond bracelet.

The painting was commended by Edward VII of the United Kingdom (then Prince of Wales) and Princess Alexandra when they saw it in the artist’s studio.

The painting was also exhibited in the 1882 Paris Salon, where it was enthusiastically received.

The title is suggestive of music and points to Whistler’s emphasis on an arrangement of line, form, and color. Yet both of these portraits of Lady Meux evoke the personality of the sitter.

Name: Honolulu Museum of Art
Formerly: Honolulu Academy of Arts
City: Honolulu
Established: 1922
Type: Art Museum
Collection: 250,000 objects
Location: 900 South Beretania Street, Honolulu, Hawaii