Paintings VIII

Haleakalā Crater

Paul Rockwood (1895-1972)

1951

This oil painting depicts a scenic view of Haleakalā Crater with clouds in the background, cinder cones in the center, and the Silversword plants in the foreground. It was created for a Hawaii National Park exhibit financed by Hui o Pele Association in 1951 and was initially displayed in the Trans-Pacific Airlines office window in Honolulu. Later it was displayed in the Hawaii National Park Museum and was intended to increase interest and stimulate travel to the Haleakalā Section. The painting was transferred to Haleakalā National Park in 1973 where it was exhibited at Headquarters Visitor Center and then the Superintendentʻs office until 2013.

Paul Clark Rockwood was a graphic artist, printmaker and lithographer. He created works of art through the Works Progress Administration (WPA) in the 1930s and became the head of the art department of the Western Museum Laboratories (WMA), formerly the National Park Service Field Division of Education. As an artist of WMA, he prepared illustrations, maps, models, dioramas, other graphic devices and lettering for museum exhibits as well as drafted layouts for exhibit plans, designed posters and worked on various museum construction projects.

In 1950, he worked as a temporary Museum Construction Specialist on the Museum Development Program at Hawaii National Park. While working at the park, he painted Pele Over Kīlauea, an image of Halema'uma'u Crater for the Kīlauea Section, and Haleakalā Crater and Maui for the Haleakalā Section. His work for the National Park Service also includes paintings of Mount Mazama at the Crater Lake National Park Museum, as well as drawings of early transportation on the western rivers at the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial. His work was also exhibited at the De Young Museum in San Francisco, California in 1939.

Oil on wood. L 66.6, H 36.6 in.

HALE 167