View 3 historic Hawaii paintings at Honolulu Museum of Art

Three exceptional 19th century paintings are about to make their appearance at the Honolulu Museum of Art for a limited time starting Wednesday.

These painting are of deep cultural and historical importance to Hawaii and are rarely accessible to the public. Usually displayed at Kamehameha Schools’ Kapalama campus, they are being loaned to the museum because of renovations being done at the school over the next two years.

“The Honolulu Museum of Art is honored to share this historic art with a wider audience,” said Catherine Whitney, HoMA’s director of curatorial affairs, in a release. “These significant works will enhance the stories we are telling in our galleries.”

Two of the paintings are by British court painter John Hayter — one of Governor of Oahu Boki and his wife Liliha and another of Queen Kamāmalu. The third painting is a landscape scene of Hilo Bay by Joseph Nāwahī, famous for its appearance on the popular TV series “Antiques Roadshow” in 2006 after being “discovered” in an antique shop on Hawaii Island.

John Hayter (British, 1800–1895): Oil on canvas of “Boki, Governor of Oahu of the Sandwich Islands, and his wife Liliha,” 1824. (Image courtesy of Kamehameha Schools)

The oil painting, “Boki, Governor of Oahu of the Sandwich Islands, and his wife Liliha” will hang in the museum’s Portrait Gallery. The painting was done in London in 1824 when the couple were part of King Kamehameha II’s delegation. While in Britain, the king and queen contracted measles and died. Boki led the delegation’s return to Hawaii.

As part of its interesting history, the painting was thought “lost” until John Dominis Holt hired someone to track it down. Found in a collection in Scotland, the painting was purchased by Holt then donated to Kamehameha Schools. The painting was on view at HoMA in 1976 while the Midkiff Learning Center was being built.

Hayter’s second painting, “Queen Kamāmalu, Consort of Kamehameha II,” and Nāwahī’s landscape will be on view in the John Dominis and Patches Damon Holt Gallery of the Arts of Hawaii.

A lawyer, journalist, legislator and artist, Nāwahī was the first Native Hawaiian to paint in the Western style. Bruce and Jackie Mahi Erickson purchased Nāwahī’s painting at a Hawaii Island antique shop in 1984. In 2006, Jackie had the painting appraised when “Antiques Roadshow” was in town. The couple then donated the rare work to Kamehameha Schools, Jackie’s alma mater. HoMA displayed the painting while the Bernice Pauahi Bishop Heritage Center was being built from 2007 to 2008.