Computer-made copies let rare paintings see the light

By Will Hoover
Advertiser Staff Writer

John Mix Stanley's "Hawaiian Woman with Dog," sells as a giclee version for $950. The reproduction is on display through Monday at Liberty House. Hawaiian Art Consultants

"Most of these paintings have never been seen by the public," said Mark Fukuda, director of Hawaiian Art Consultants, which coordinated the project for the Bishop Museum. "Few have ever been published."

Desoto Brown, collections manager of the Bishop Museum archives, said this is the first time these works — or at least their close likenesses — have been seen together in an exhibit. Most date back to the early-to-mid 1800s when Western artists were recording their impressions of the Islands.

As project manager, Fukuda spent a year transforming images of the 10 paintings from canvas to paper via a high-resolution photographic process known as giclee (a French word roughly pronounced "zhee-clay," meaning "to spray"). The museum archives supplied Fukuda with slides; these were scanned into a computer, which recorded each subtle color shading, each visible brush stroke and then transferred these to paper by means of a spray of archival pigmented inks guaranteed to last 100 years or more.

"Young Girl & Child in Banana Field" was painstakingly reproduced through a computer process and will last at least 100 years.

One of the most colorful artworks, "Hawaiian Woman with Dog," was originally painted in oils by John Mix Stanley in 1849. The giclee version sells for $950. Among the other artworks are "Diamond Head from Waikiki," painted by Enoch Wood Perry in 1865; "Young Girl & Child in Banana Field," painted by Margaret Girvin Gillian in 1889; and "Kilauea by Day," painted by Titan Ramsey Peale in 1842.

Fukuda pointed out that the museum is not associated with the much-richer Kamehameha Schools, formerly the Bishop Estate, which many people don't realize. For this reason, he said. it's important for the museum to identify potential sources of income that are in keeping with its mission. The museaum collects a royalty on all paintings sold.

Brown said an important aspect of the project is that it puts excellent reproductions of these little-known works before the public at the same time that it ensures the originals remain preserved and protected.