LOS ANGELES, CA.- Bonhams will present the Art of Hawai‘i, a themed sale celebrating artists of Hawaii and featuring works which highlight the beauty of the Pacific Islands, on August 2 in Los Angeles. The sale will feature notable Hawaiian and Hawaii-based artists such as Isami Doi, David Howard Hitchcock, Betty Ecke, Cornelia MacIntyre Foley, Charles William Bartlett, Helen Thomas Dranga, and Ethel Chun Lum depicting a range of figurative, cultural, and landscape subjects. Highlights of the sale include Mo'omomi, Molokai, Hawaii, 1912, estimated at $20,000 – 30,000, by David Howard Hitchcock (1861-1943), an artist known for his depictions of the state, and Halema'uma'u, Lake of Fire, Kīlauea Crater, attributed to Hitchcock, estimated at $30,000 – 50,000.

Leading the sale is a curated selection from the Collection of Vladimir and Raelyn Ossipoff, a beloved and influential couple in the artistic community of Honolulu. Vladimir is best known for modernizing the traditional lanai which became synonymous with the best of Hawaiian living. Raelyn championed the work of native Hawaiian artists in the 1950s by opening The Gallery in Honolulu’s Ala Moana district. Bonhams will offer 24 works from their collection built over their lifetimes with nine lots featured in this sale and 15 presented in the Modern Design | Art sale on July 25 in Los Angeles.

The works on offer reflect and celebrate the Ossipoffs’ deep appreciation for Hawaii’s melting pot aesthetic, their support of the artistic community, and their eye for innovation. Of particular note is a painting from one of the first Hawaiian artist of international renown, Isami Doi (1903-1965), titled Portrait of a Woman in a Kimono, 1932 and estimated at $30,000 – 50,000. In this work, Doi, a Japanese Hawaiian artist who studied in Paris and New York, utilizes a Renoiresque 'Femme à la toilette' composition that bridges traditional ukiyo-e depictions of bathing culture. The Participate Flow by Betty Ecke (Tseng Yu-Ho) (1925-2017) is an additional highlight of the collection and a prime example of Ecke’s dsui hua (assembled paintings) technique from the height of her career, estimated at $15,000 – 25,000.

Additional highlights of the sale include:

• Hawaiian Fisherman, c. 1919, a color woodcut on Japan paper, by Charles William Bartlett (1860-1940) is estimated at $6,000 – 8,000. Bartlett was best known for his printmaking and was key in organizing the group known as the Honolulu Printmakers in 1928.

• A pencil drawing, Lei Makers, 1937 by Cornelia MacIntyre Foley (1909-2010) is estimated at $8,000 – 12,000. Foley was a Honolulu-born artist known for her works depicting wahine culture.

• Estimated at $4,000 – 6,000, Marshall Islands Men in a Canoe Using a Navigation Chart, an oil painting, by Helen Thomas Dranga (1866-1940), an American painter who spent 25 years painting a variety of subjects in Hawaii.

• Windward Oahu and Sugar Cane Mill, Windward Oahu Plantation, two oil landscapes painted prior to 1942, by Ethel (Wai Eng) Chun Lum (1914-1997) are each estimated at $3,000 – 5,000. Chun Lum was a Chinese-Hawaiian artist celebrated for her richly colored paintings and distinctive textile designs.