Arthur Johnsen is known for his Hawaiian landscape paintings, including those of the rural tree-lined coastal Red Road in Lower Puna.
16 Facts About Arthur Johnsen
1.
2.
Arthur Johnsen studied graphic design at the University of California, Berkeley, graduating in 1974.
3.
Arthur Johnsen returned to Oahu for work and further study, lived for a while in Volcano Village on the Big Island beginning in the late 1970s, and later spent five years in Los Angeles doing freelance design work in the garment and costume industry.
4.
Arthur Johnsen moved to Puna on the Big Island of Hawaii in 1989.
5.
Arthur Johnsen's paintings were sold at the Ohana o Hawaii gallery in Hilo, and when owner Randy Farias retired in 2005, it was renamed the Arthur Johnsen Gallery under the ownership of Johnsen and a business partner.
6.
In 2012, Arthur Johnsen closed the gallery and moved his paintings to the newly formed One Gallery in Hilo.
7.
Arthur Johnsen created murals commissioned by a number of resorts, restaurants, public buildings, and cruise ships throughout the Hawaiian islands.
8.
Arthur Johnsen's works were exhibited at venues including the Volcano Art Center, Honolulu Hale, and the East Hawaii Cultural Center.
9.
Some of Arthur Johnsen's paintings have been held by Cedar Street Gallery in Honolulu.
10.
Arthur Johnsen's entry, titled The Goddess Pele, was selected in the blind competition as the winner, as best representing Pele's "deepest cultural meanings".
11.
Arthur Johnsen used a Native Hawaiian as his model, and lit her face from below; living near Kalapana and having watched many lava flows at night, he knew that lava throws light from below up toward faces.
12.
Arthur Johnsen's right hand holds an egg containing her unborn sister goddess Hi'iaka, which she carried on her journey from Tahiti.
13.
Arthur Johnsen noted that he had been living in Puna, close to the active lava flows, since 1989, and had seen the destruction of Kalapana and the beach at Kaimu, and had watched lava flows from his home.
14.
Arthur Johnsen added that his proximity to the steady active lava flows made him "feel closely connected [to Pele] on a very personal level".
15.
Arthur Johnsen lived along the Red Road near Kehena in Lower Puna on the Big Island of Hawaii, in the home he built in 1992.
16.
Arthur Johnsen died in November 2015 following a sudden illness.