Volcanos are some of the most disastrous yet beautiful of nature’s natural wonders. Artists of The Volcano School in the late 19th century saw the popularity of paintings that portrayed natural wonders, such as Thomas Moran’s painting of Yellowstone, and ran with it.
The Volcano School was a group of artists that painted volcanos, specifically Hawaiian volcanos. Although these paintings were of Hawaiian location, most artists during this period were non-native Hawaiians.
Untitled, by Jules Tavernier, 1886
These paintings are vivid and rich, with the focal point being the luminous lava. With this being said, the paintings are mostly orange, yellow, and black. Though lacking in variety of colors, these paintings are still just as lively. Artists such as Jules Tavernier (shown above) saw these volcanos in front of them, and painted them live, as they were active at the time they were being painted.
The most popular Hawaiian volcano to paint at the time was Kīlauea. What is interesting about these paintings is that they portray volcanic eruptions at night, which puts even more focus on the bright oozing lava in the pictures. Tavernier, despite being a French artist, is known as being one of the biggest Volcano School artists of the time.
Halemaumau, Lake of Fire by D. Howard Hitchcock, 1888
Howard Hitchcock is also an influential artist of this time. Despite most of the other Volcano School artists beside him, Hitchcock is born and raised in Hawaii, making him especially beloved by native Hawaiians. Although he did not reside in Hawaii for his entire life, he was able to portray Hawaii from a native lens, understanding the roots of the nature he was painting, and making him well respected.
This does not invalidate the art of the non-natives, however. In fact, one of his biggest influences was Jules Tavernier. Hitchcock’s most common medium of painting was oil painting, which is why the textures in his work have layers and look of such depth. He is most known for his paintings of volcanic coasts, such as scenes of Kīlauea, though he had other landscapes of Hawaii absent of volcanos in his collection as well.
Though not as widespread as it should be, paintings of the Volcano School are influential to landscape paintings that followed it. It showed how to portray contrast of light and dark and create a dramatic scene through oil (and sometimes water color), despite being a still of a natural disaster.