“Color etching in the true sense of the word is one of the most painstaking of all media and John Kelly has mastered this technique like no other artist in America.”
John and Kate lived far from the city near an active fishing community where they became good friends with many of their neighbors. Kateʻs photographs skillfully capture their lives and culture in a rapidly changing world. John then immortalized their friends and acquaintances in his art.
Kate was an accomplished sculptor and a gifted photographer. Her bronzed busts of Hawaiian people are now rare and highly treasured. Her photographs served to inspire many of Johnʻs etchings and reveal much about life in Hawaiʻi in those critical decades.
For many years, John worked as a graphic artist for newspapers. He became emersed in the medium of etching after he moved to Hawaii with his family. Through exploration and experimentation, he developed techniques that won him national recognition as a master etcher and that remain unparalleled today.
Kate and Johnʻs collaboration reveals the hearts and souls of the Hawaiian people from the 1920ʻs through the 1950ʻs, now considered a pivotal period for Native land and culture. Their work preserves the triumph of a people determined to survive the loss of land and language.
This very special and unique pair of watercolor paintings, done in the 1950s, are never-before-seen works by John Melville Kelly that premiered at the Downtown Art Center exhibit in August 2021. They represent a wide range of ethnicities passing through Waikiki, in extraordinary detail and brilliant color. Each is 40” long. While the originals are not for sale, high-quality 10” x 20” giclee prints are available as a set for $300. Please contact kellyarthawaii@gmail.com if you are interested in purchasing!
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