Kīlauea by Moonlight

Inscriptions

Signed twice (artist's hand?), in brush and ink, on reverse: Jules Tavernier; numbered, in graphite, on reverse: A7132; numbered, in red pencil, on gummed circular label on reverse [also some illegible printing]: 1258; numbered, in black marker, twice on frame reverse: 13439; numbered, in black marker, on frame reverse: 739; inscribed on modern hand-lettered, gilded wood frame label, front of frame: Kilauea By Moonlight / JULES TAVERNIER / 1849-1889

Label

Lava brims and bursts into flame in this depiction of the Halema‘uma‘u crater at the summit of Kīlauea on Hawai‘i Island, lit only by the partially obscured moon and the glowing rock itself. Dramatic views of the Kingdom of Hawai‘i’s natural wonders became hugely popular in the 1880s, especially among the growing class of wealthy American settlers and tourists. Still active today, Kīlauea most recently erupted on May 3, 2018, destroying some seven hundred homes.

From the 2022 exhibition This Land: American Engagement with the Natural World, curated by Jami C. Powell, Curator of Indigenous Art; Barbara J. MacAdam, former Jonathan L. Cohen Curator of American Art; Thomas H. Price, former Curatorial Assistant; Morgan E. Freeman, former DAMLI Native American Art Fellow; and Michael Hartman, Jonathan Little Cohen Associate Curator of American Art

Course History

ANTH 7.05, Animals and Humans, Laura Ogden, Winter 2022

GEOG 31.01, Postcolonial Geographies, Erin Collins, Winter 2022

ANTH 50.05, Environmental Archaeology, Madeleine McLeester, Winter 2022

ANTH 50.05, Environmental Archaeology, Madeleine McLeester, Winter 2022

ARTH 5.01, Introduction to Contemporary Art, Mary Coffey and Chad Elias, Winter 2022

ANTH 3.01, Introduction to Cultural Anthropology, Chelsey Kivland, Summer 2022

ANTH 3.01, Introduction to Cultural Anthropology, Chelsey Kivland, Summer 2022

SPAN 65.15, Wonderstruck: Archives and the Production of Knowledge in an Unequal World, Silvia Spitta and Barbara Goebel, Summer 2022

Exhibition History

This Land: American Engagement with the Natural World, Owen Robertson Cheatham Gallery, Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth, Hanover, New Hampshire, January 5–July 22, 2022.

Provenance

Christies, New York, American paintings auction [Bloch sale], c. 1990-91; sold to David Stewart Hull, New York; bequeathed to Frank P. Stetz, New York; bequeathed to present collection, 2009

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Subjects