Yes, there was art in Hawaii before 1927. It just wasn’t all in one place. One of the Pacific’s leading art institutions is centered in the Pacific. Centered in Honolulu, to be specific.

Centered on Beretania Street, to be specific.

The Honolulu Academy of Arts was established in 1927 by Anna Montague Cooke (Castle & Cooke, Cooke Islands, Captain Cooke—sound familiar?) so children growing up in Hawaii, literally thousands and thousands of miles from the nearest art museums (or far from anything else, for that matter), would have the opportunity to view fine works of art. Charo not included.

The design for the Academy of Arts came from New York architect Bertram Goodhue and the Cooke family.

Back in 1927 the Royal Hawaiian Band joined the celebration which marked the opening of the Honolulu Academy of Arts. Today, the building is considered a classic in Hawaii—complete with galleries and courtyards. Unless you’re a European art student or architect, you’d swear you were in Spain. Or Italy.

“The Chinese painting collection boasts the finest of the Ming and Qing dynasties.”The Academy building can’t seem to make up its mind as the architecture has a little of both.

Oh, I forgot to mention. Bertram Goodhue died before the Academy was completed. His work then went to Hardie Phillip who made sure the project was completed. Maybe he really liked Spanish design. Or Italian. We’re not sure which came first.

The museum (as local folks call the Academy) has an extraordinary collection. The Chinese painting collection boasts the finest of the Ming and Qing dynasties. The Asian galleries contain scrolls, screens, and a 14th century samurai suit of armor. Too bad there was no WD40 back then. Maybe Japan would have conquered China.

No. Wait. They did that later.

Of course, no collection of art in Hawaii would be complete without a Hawaii collection. Yep. There’s a good one.

Summary: Honolulu Academy of Art is a quaint, although small, museum of fine arts. Focus, obviously is on Asia but there’s plenty of Western civilization to be seen. McDonald’s and Burger King are down the block.

Pros: Remarkable collection of art; regular art “themes”.

Cons: It’s also a remarkably small place considering all the art that must have been created.

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