The Beatuy of Art - Part 8; The answers

So, who is the painter of the painting I showed in The Beauty of Art - Part 8? I am not surprised you did not know - I had never heard of him until I went to Hawaii and saw his art.

The painter's name is Herbert "Herb" Kawainui Kāne. He was also a historian and an author and he did a lot of research. Herb showed that Hawaiian culture was not "an accidental seeding of Polynesia" but that Hawaii was possible to reach from Tahiti, if the canoes were built well.

He wrote an article for National Geogrpahic about his theory about why Polynesians are bigger, with more muscle and fat than other tropical people: "When a chief began a voyage of exploration to find new land for his people, he would choose as companions men with powerful muscles, stamina and ample fat to sustain them in times of hunger and to insulate them against the energy-sapping and eventually deadly exposure to wind and spray. He would bring women who seemed capable of bearing children of that type."

The painting, one of close to 400 canvasses, is called Pele goddess of volcanoes.

In Hawaiin religion Pele is the  goddess of fire, lightning, wind and volcanoes. She is also the creator of the Hawaiian islands.

You wrote that the painting made you think of nature's greatness and the glow of humans. I feel exactly the same. That is what drew my attention to the drawing in the first place: the combination of human and nature; how we are part of somethng as impressive and beautiful as the nature around us.

If you want to see more drawings by Herb Kawainui Kāne you can have a look at this web page.

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