Hawaii by John Melville Kelly, Hawaiian Fine Nostalgia Aquatint

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Hawaii by John Melville Kelly, Hawaiian Fine Nostalgia Aquatint

About the Item

An original, hand-printed aquatint and etching in beautiful colors by John Kelly. Titled, "Hawaii" and signed in graphite in lower margin with the embossed John Kelly Foundation sea. Also numbered "No 11" in bottom margin. This image was created in the 1940s, the most desirable period of Kelly's career. It was during this time that he developed a less realistic and more stylized graphic style which combined figures with large plant and flower forms to create a striking image. It was during this period that he created the Matson menu covers which gained Kelly an audience well beyond Hawaii. This image is illustrated in the book, "John Melville Kelly: Hawaiian Idyll" on page 92-93. Its description reads: Kelly's sales records document impressions of Hawaii as well as others selling to local and visiting collectors. They also indicate that groups of prints were sent out on consignment to local representatives and shops. J.F. Wickman's and Moody's, both fine gift stores in Honolulu, provided Kelly with important exposure and sales opportunities; his mainland representation included Gump's in San Francisco. Hoping to heighten his national profile, Kelly entered impressions of his prints in mainland exhibitions. An impression of Hawaii, for instance, was seen by print collectors and art lovers in an international exhibition of prints in Los Angeles, where it received an honorable mention." John Kelly's aquatints were hand-printed by the artist and each print is unique by the nature of this printing process. Since the ink/color was painted onto the printing plate for each print, one often sees great variation in each print even if the image is the same. As described in the book, John Melville Kelly: Hawaiian Idyll, "His experimental approach to inking plates made possible broad ranges of tone and unique color combinations from one print to the next. Thus, no two of his prints were ever identical." Although there are no records of how many prints of each image were made, experts agree that his editions were well under 100 for even the most popular images and only a handful were printed of some of the rarer images. Size: paper 13-1/2" x 10-3/8", image 10-5/8" x 8-1/2", framed 22-1/4" x 19".

Creator:
John Melville Kelly (Artist)
Dimensions:
Height: 22.25 in (56.52 cm)Width: 19 in (48.26 cm)Depth: 1.5 in (3.81 cm)
Style:
Art Deco (In the Style Of)
Materials and Techniques:
Paper
Place of Origin:
Hawaiian Islands
Period:
Early 20th Century
Date of Manufacture:
circa 1935
Condition:
Seller Location:
Honolulu, HI
Reference Number:
Seller: 168541stDibs: LU121323244222