Arthur Johnsen

Arthur Johnsen (August 27, 1952 – November 15, 2015) was an American artist. Born and raised on Oahu and living most of his post-university life on the Big Island of Hawaii, he is known for his impressionistic paintings and murals of Hawaiiana.

He is best known internationally for his 2003 painting of the volcano goddess Pele, which was chosen from more than 140 entries to represent the goddess at the Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park, and is on display at the main visitor center there. He is also known for his Hawaiian landscape paintings, including those of the rural tree-lined coastal Red Road in Lower Puna.

Life and career Johnsen was born in Hawaii on the island of Oahu, and attended Punahou High School, graduating in 1970. He studied graphic design at the University of California, Berkeley, graduating in 1974.

Johnsen also created murals commissioned by a number of resorts, restaurants, public buildings, and cruise ships throughout the Hawaiian islands.

His works were exhibited at venues including the Volcano Art Center, Honolulu Hale, and the East Hawaii Cultural Center.

A retrospective of his work, in particular his plein air impressionistic paintings of vistas of the Red Road in Lower Puna, was presented by the East Hawaii Cultural Center at the Hawaii Museum of Contemporary Art from January 3–29, 2014. The museum and cultural center published a book of the exhibited works, entitled Paintings of the Red Road by Arthur Johnsen. As of 2019, some of his paintings were still held at Third Dimension Gallery in Kohala Coast.

The Goddess Pele In early 2003, the group of Native Hawaiian elders, or kupuna, advising the superintendent of Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park on cultural matters were concerned that the painting of the volcano goddess Pele in the main visitor center did not portray the goddess in a culturally appropriate manner. The Kupuna Committee and the park staff worked with the Sacred Mountains Program of The Mountain Institute, which had funds from the Ford Foundation, to put out a state-wide call in March 2003 for paintings of Pele which the elders would select from in August of that year. which she used for excavating while searching for a home that she finally found at Halemaʻumaʻu, in her left hand. Her right hand holds an egg containing her unborn sister goddess Hiʻiaka, which she carried on her journey from Tahiti.