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Surf board riders, Honolulu

Artist Ambrose McCarthy Patterson (Australian, 1877 - 1966)

Datec 1916

Object number00051911

NameWoodblock print

MediumPrint on paper

DimensionsOverall: 545 × 460 × 30 mm, 1918 g
Sight: 350 × 265 mm

ClassificationsArt

Credit LineANMM Collection Purchased from USA Bicentennial Gift funds

Terms

DescriptionSurf board riders, Honolulu was produced by Australian-born American artist, Ambrose Patterson about 1916. Patterson spent time in Hawaii opening a studio in Lanikai. He produced many highly-prized block prints depicting Island life and activities.HistoryAmbrose Patterson was born in Daylesford, Australia. He studied the Melbourne Art School under E. Phillips Fox and Tudor St George Tucker, at the National Gallery Art School in Melbourne and continued his studies in Paris at the Académie Colarossi and the Académie Julian under Lucien Simon, André Lhote and Maxime Maufra. In Paris he became a friend of compatriot Nellie Melba, the famous soprano; Patterson's brother, Tom, was married to Melba's sister, Belle. Through Melba's influence, he was able to continue his studies with John Singer Sargent. He became part of the Paris arts scene and exhibited at the first Salon d'Automne exhibitions. He had five paintings at the 1905 Paris Salon at which Henri Matisse and the fauves stunned the art world. After a visit to his homeland in 1909 or 1910, he spent the following seven years in Hawaii. Following a year in San Francisco, he moved to Seattle to work as a freelance artist, perhaps being the first modern artist in that city. In 1919 he established the University of Washington School of Painting and Design. Patterson married painter and former student Viola Hansen in 1922, and the two became major figures of the arts in the Pacific Northwest region. Patterson taught until his retirement in 1947. He died in Seattle in 1967. Patterson's paintings can be found in the Art Gallery of New South Wales (Sydney, Australia), the National Portrait Gallery (Australia) (Canberra), the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the Seattle Art Museum and the Tacoma Art Museum. SignificanceAmbrose Patterson was an Australian-born American painter. After a visit back to Australia, he was returning to the United States and when his ship stopped in Hawaii he was so impressed with the scenery that he stayed for a year painting landscapes and mountain views.