RUTH LEIALOHA KANAHELE IVERSEN

(Hawaiian, 1926-2011)

Koʻolau, Oahau Landscape

Oil on Canvas

71¾ x 48 Inches

Signed Lower Right, "Leialoha Kanahele Iversen"

Previously with:

Gima's Art Gallery, Honolulu, Oahu, Hawaii

 

A large and dramatic landscape showing a view of the Koʻolau Range on the eastern shore of the island of Oahu. Dating to the mature period of this notable Hawaiian woman artist, this work articulates a lyrical vision of the unspoiled natural world that continues to flourish on the island.

 

Maui-born, Ruth Leialoha Kanahele was a descendant of Alii Nui Kahekilinuiahumanu and Kahuna Nui Hewahewa. She received her initial formal art training at the Chouinard Art Institute in Los Angeles and subsequently studied at the Honolulu Academy of Arts. She exhibited widely and successfully throughout the Hawaiian islands, including at the Bishop Museum, and is a recipient of the Maoli Arts Award for commitment to Hawaiian tradition and culture. A long-time member of the Hale Naua III Society of Hawaiian artists, she contributed to hundreds of exhibitions, both in the islands and abroad, furthering public awareness of her native culture and land. Through her art, she encouraged the preservation of irreplaceable areas of Hawaii's natural beauty including the spectacular Koʻolau Mountain Range and sacred native sites throughout Ka Pae Aina. Ruth Leialoha Kanahele's profoundly spiritual landscapes evoke the time-honored indigenous traditions and aspirations of her people that seek to honor the soul of nature and of all natural things.

 

Kanahele's paintings are held in the permanent collection of the State Foundation on Culture and the Arts and in numerous corporate and private collections throughout the world. In the last ten years of her life, Ruth Leialoha Kanahele became both the Foundation's most recognized advocate and also its most esteemed member.

 

Framed in the original, and period, 1960's' silver gilt and mahogany stained strip wood frame.

Framed Dimensions: 72.25 x 48.5