DAVID HOWARD HITCHCOCK (1861-1943),
Halemaʻumaʻu Crater / Kilauea (1,247 m - 4,091 ft)
United states of America (Hawaii)
In Halemaumau, lake of fire, oil on board, 1888
The volcano
Halemaʻumaʻu Crater (six syllables: HAH-lay-MAH-oo-MAH-oo) is a pit crater within the much larger summit caldera of Kīlauea in Hawaii Volcanoes National Park. The roughly circular crater was 770 meters (2,530 ft) x 900 m (2,950 ft) before collapses that roughly doubled the size of the crater after May 3, 2018. Halemaʻumaʻu is home to Pele, goddess of fire and volcanoes, according to the traditions of Hawaiian religion. Halemaʻumaʻu means "house of the ʻāmaʻu fern".
Halemaʻumaʻu contained an active lava lake for much of the time before 1924, and was the site of several eruptions during the 20th century. The crater again contained an active lava lake between 2008 and 2018, usually fluctuating between 20 to 150 meters below Halemaʻumaʻu's crater floor, though at times the lava lake rose high enough to spill onto crater floor.
As new volcanic vents opened in lower Puna in May 2018, the level of the lava lake began to drop in early May 2018, eventually to the point where the lava lake was no longer visible. The subsidence of the lava lake was accompanied by a period of explosions, earthquakes, large clouds of ash and toxic gas, and finally a gradual collapse of the summit caldera around Halemaʻumaʻu Crater, resulting in the closure of the Hawaii Volcanoes National Park from May 10 to September 22, 2018. The collapse events ceased abruptly on August 2, 2018.
In the summer of 2019, for the first time in recorded history, a water pond appeared in Halemaʻumaʻu. The greenish pond has deepened and enlarged since first being observed.
The painter
David Howard Hitchcock was an American painter of the so called Volcano School, known for his depictions of Hawaii. Born in Hilo, Hawaii, Hitchcock attended Oberlin College in Ohio, where he saw his first art exhibition. Back in Hawaii, he wandered the volcano wilderness with a sketch pad and watercolors. French artist Jules Tavernier, painting in Hawaii, saw Hitchcock's sketches and convinced him to study art seriously.
After Tavernier's death in 1889 Hitchcock studied painting at the National Academy of Design in New York City and from 1891 to 1893 at the Académie Julian in Paris under Aldolphe Bourguereau and Gabriel Joseph Ferrier. His work was accepted at the Paris Salon of 1893. He returned to Hawaii in 1893.
In 1894, Hitchcock became one of the founders of the Kilohana Art League, an active art program in Honolulu at the turn of the century, exhibiting at least twice a year.
During extensive travels in the 1900s, Hitchcock explored the volcanic regions of the island of Hawaii, and in July 1907 he made his first visit to the island of Kauaʻi, where he painted Waimea Canyon. He toured and painted the island of Maui in 1915 and 1916. He was a leading member of Hawaii's Volcano School, and his most important paintings date from about 1905 to 1930.
His canvases were displayed in 1924 at the First Hawaiian and South Seas Exhibition in the Los Angeles Museum in Exposition Park. In 1927, he exhibited several paintings at the opening of the Honolulu Museum of Art, where he had a retrospective exhibition in 1936. In 1939 he exhibited in the Golden Gate International Exposition in San Francisco and at the 1939 New York World's Fair.
_______________________________
2019 - Wandering Vertexes...
by Francis Rousseau
The painter
David Howard Hitchcock was an American painter of the so called Volcano School, known for his depictions of Hawaii. Born in Hilo, Hawaii, Hitchcock attended Oberlin College in Ohio, where he saw his first art exhibition. Back in Hawaii, he wandered the volcano wilderness with a sketch pad and watercolors. French artist Jules Tavernier, painting in Hawaii, saw Hitchcock's sketches and convinced him to study art seriously.
After Tavernier's death in 1889 Hitchcock studied painting at the National Academy of Design in New York City and from 1891 to 1893 at the Académie Julian in Paris under Aldolphe Bourguereau and Gabriel Joseph Ferrier. His work was accepted at the Paris Salon of 1893. He returned to Hawaii in 1893.
In 1894, Hitchcock became one of the founders of the Kilohana Art League, an active art program in Honolulu at the turn of the century, exhibiting at least twice a year.
During extensive travels in the 1900s, Hitchcock explored the volcanic regions of the island of Hawaii, and in July 1907 he made his first visit to the island of Kauaʻi, where he painted Waimea Canyon. He toured and painted the island of Maui in 1915 and 1916. He was a leading member of Hawaii's Volcano School, and his most important paintings date from about 1905 to 1930.
His canvases were displayed in 1924 at the First Hawaiian and South Seas Exhibition in the Los Angeles Museum in Exposition Park. In 1927, he exhibited several paintings at the opening of the Honolulu Museum of Art, where he had a retrospective exhibition in 1936. In 1939 he exhibited in the Golden Gate International Exposition in San Francisco and at the 1939 New York World's Fair.
_______________________________
2019 - Wandering Vertexes...
by Francis Rousseau
