Marguerite Blasingame

Mid Century Hawaiian Symbolism -- Stairway to Destiny

c.1940-50s

Born in Honolulu and trained at Stanford University in California, Marguerite Blasingame was among the artists in Hawaii who, before World War II, experimented with decorative patterns using natural forms, especially tropical foliage and flowers and used stylized imagery of Hawaiian figures. She was an American sculptor and painter and she was a member of the Hawaiian Mural Guild. Her work is in many locations in Hawaii including the Honolulu Academy, Library of Hawaii and Ala Moana Park. She was born Marguerite Louis in Honolulu in 1906. She graduated from the University of Hawaii and then went on to earn an M. A. in art from Stanford University in 1928. Marguerite returned to Hawaii, where she became an established sculptor of figural works, many of them bas-reliefs in wood and stone. Her depictions were usually sinuous in contour with simplified anatomy. During the Great Depression she was a Works Progress Administration artist and filled many commissions for architectural panels and Bas-relief wood sculptures. Blasingame also painted in a symbolist style and was a member of the Hawaiian Mural Guild. She authored A Course in Art Appreciation for the Adult Layman, which was published by Stanford University Press. Marguerite Louis Blasingame died in 1947 while traveling in Mexico. One of her wooden sculptures is installed in the John Dominis and Patches Damon Holt Gallery of the Honolulu Museum of Art. Other sculptures in public places includes an untitled 1935 marble sculpture in Ala Moana Park, Honolulu, Hawaii and Hawaiian Decagonal Fountain (1934–1935) at Kawananakoa School, Honolulu, Hawaii.