"The Torchlight Fishermen, Waikiki c. 1920", by Lionel Walden, c. 1920.
Hand embellished poster, silver-leaf frame, custom painted wood fillet.
Image size: 27.5" wide x 17" high
Frame size: 35.5" wide x 25" high
Considered the “supreme interpreter of the Hawai'ian seas," Lionel Walden (1861-1933) first traveled to the islands on the invitation of Honolulu artist Kimo Wilder in 1911. Entranced with the colorful landscapes and shores of Hawai'i, Walden split each year thereafter between Hawai'i and France. He arrived an accomplished figure in the salons of Paris, where he won numerous medals and was inducted to the French Legion of Honor. An enthusiastic member of the Hawai'ian Society of Arts, Walden frequently exhibited in group shows and collaborated with other prominent artists, including D. Howard Hitchcock and William Twigg-Smith, to execute murals for public buildings and expositions.
In April 1912, Walden returned to France, but he spent half his time (and more during the First World War) in the islands thereafter. While many of his peers were obsessed with Hawai'ian landscapes, Walden preferred the ocean in "all its moods, colors, and actions." He is particularly famous for his paintings of stormy seas. Still, although he specialized in seascapes, Walden continued to produce landscape and volcano scenes. For a number of years, he also gave private lessons. In July 1933, Walden died in Chantilly, France, from injuries suffered in a fall. Along with Hitchcock and Madge Tennent, Lionel Walden is considered one of the three "giants" of Hawai'ian art.
The original oil on canvas painting, "The Torchlight Fishermen", hangs in the Honolulu Museum of Art, and depicts a traditional method of fishing along the beach at Waikiki, O'ahu.
