D. Howard Hitchcock

Born in Hilo in 1861, D. Howard Hitchcock was the first Hawaii-born painter to receive formal art training. In Paris, he did numerous paintings of volcanoes, which circulated widely enough to attract tourist attention to the islands. He depicted the volcanoes in a range of appearances, from fiery beasts to calm renderings of the landscape. During extensive travels in the 1900s, Hitchcock explored the volcanic regions of the island of Hawaiʻi. In July 1907 he made his first visit to the island of Kauaʻi, becoming one of the earliest artists to paint the Waimea Canyon. He also executed dramatic views of Hawaiʻi for display on vessels of the Inter-Island Steam Navigation Company.

Hitchcock was Jules Tavernier's disciple and principal student. He first met Tavernier in January 1885, when Tavernier made his initial trip to Hilo along with landscape painter Joseph Strong. He later recalled that this encounter determined the course of his life: "When I met Tavernier in Hilo with Joe Strong, it was the first time I had ever seen a real artist. He looked at my first efforts in art and encouraged me in my work. Like a parasite, I followed Tavernier and Strong to Kilauea to watch them at their painting."

In his youth, Hitchcock studied drawing as a student at Punahou School in Honolulu and received minimal instruction in painting while a student at Oberlin College in Ohio. Encouraged by Tavernier, he pursued a year of study at the California School of Design with Virgil Williams from 1885-1886. Upon his return to Hawaiʻi, Hitchcock opened a studio in Hilo and then one in Honolulu. Despite their friendship, Hitchcock and Tavernier occasionally became rivals, particularly in their production of the ever-popular volcano paintings. Hitchcock along with Charles Furneaux and Tavernier were artists of much fascination to the public who visited their studios and watched closely their works-in-progress. Later this threesome was colloquially named the Volcano School and their works had great popularity. One of Hitchcock's volcano paintings was purchased by the sugar baron, John D. Spreckels of San Francisco.

In 1893, after three years of study at the Academy Julian in Paris and then in New York, he returned to Hawaiʻi. Interest in painting was revived in 1894 with his return and the founding that year of the Kilohana Art League, the first association formed specifically to encourage artists and to sponsor exhibitions of their work. Hitchcock was the driving force behind the club for most of its twenty-year existence. In his later years, Hitchcock taught painting at Punahou School. In 1936, in honor of his seventy-fifth birthday, Hitchcock was given a retrospective exhibition at the Honolulu Academy of Arts. He was also a member of the Salmagundi Club. Hitchcock died in Honolulu in 1943. His works reside in the Boston Museum, the Oakland Museum, the Bishop Museum, the Honolulu Academy of Arts, and in many very private collections. His magnificent and cherished paintings boldly express, with freely applied paint and fresh tonal range, the luminous, evanescent atmosphere of the Islands.

Along with Lionel Walden and Madge Tennent, Hitchcock is considered one of the three "giants" of Hawaiian art.