Art after dark

Last Friday I went with some friends to the Honolulu Academy of Art's "Art after Dark". Basically, this is the Academy's way of making some extra money and getting people to come to the gallery to enjoy all the beautiful and amazing art. The theme for last week's event was "Bombshell" and it included a live jazz band with swing dancers, a catered bar and grill menu, and of course, all the galleries were open until 9pm. And the bonus: the mingling of all the beautiful, young professionals actually dressed up without a single aloha shirt in sight. Don't get me wrong, I really dig the causal vibe here, but it is nice to see a man in a polo shirt now and again.

The biggest surprise of the evening for me? I had no idea we had such amazing art on Hawaii. A lot of the collection were pieces shipped at the turn of the 20th century to one of the wealthy mission ladies, Anne Rice Cooke. She collected an array of Asian art, as well as some amazing pieces you would see in a French museum. The most interesting tid-bit? This Gaughin, Two Nudes, is the only one of his Tahitian paintings to hang in a gallery in all of Polynesia. And boy, was it beautiful.

Next month the theme is "Let them eat cake" and I am really looking forward to it. I didn't make it to the Impressionist gallery in the Academy, so this will be my first stop next time. I also plan on exploring the Hawaiian gallery a bit more, including this exhibition on Hawaiian drawings. Anyone want to come with?