(Maui News, November 24, 1916)
One of the most attractive exhibits at the Maui County Fair will be a series of canvases painted by D. Howard Hitchcock, dean of Hawaiian artists. With one exception they are paintings of Maui scenery, the fruits of Mr. Hitchcock’s summer camping tour through the wonderland of Haleakala and its magnificent gorges, Kaupo and the Keanae.
Five of the eight painting which he will exhibit are mountain cloud effects and these the artist considers his host work. They are landscapes unlike anything which he or any other artist has attempted, and are imbued with rare power and charm. He has caught the misty, filmy fog effects, soft shadows and vivid colorings of the splendid panoramas one sees only from the cloudwrapped summits at dawn.
A large canvas portrays the view across the vivid blue channel through the fleecy clouds hovering over Kaupo, with distant Island peaks fading into the crimson horizon.
Another shows the summit looking back from the first descent towards Keanae, with the top of the great red cone in the midst of the crater just peeping above the rugged volcanic rims. This canvas shows the rare color tones of the mountain top under brilliant sunshine.
The third canvas, a study in greens and mist was taken at the base of the first rampant going down into Keanae. Looking back towards the crater the gorge-cleft pali, fern clad to the summit disappears into the clouds. The curling mists of the gorge are illumined by the morning light.
Sunrise from the floor of the crater of Haleakala, across Kaupo, with Mauna Kea in the distance, is a study in soft and luminous tones, of rare beauty and appeal. The fifth cloud study from among the clouds is a dreamy Japanesque panel painted In the decorative style. Peaks and cones, half hidden and half revealed appear as to one lost in the fog.
by David Howard Hitchcock.
Then there are two Iao scenes, a large colorative study of the gorge and crater, looking upward from the base of the Needle; and a brilliant study painted to show the view from out the gloomy cloud crowned gorge into the sunshine. It is a study of light effects from within the shadow.
The remaining canvas which Mr. Hitchcock will exhibit at Wailuku is his "Daylight View of Kilauea," a scene which he has only recently completed, painted from studies made at the Volcano last winter. The snow capped summit of Mauna Loa against the clouds forms the background of the flaming canvas cauldron.
These canvases have nothing of the conventional in them. They exhibit rare depth of tone and mastery of color, only capable of artistic expression by one who has absorbed the spirit of Hawaii through long and constant association and study. Mr. Hitchcock will not hold an exhibition of his work this season and so those who wish to enjoy his beautiful work will find an added reason for visiting Maui ten days hence, to see Howard Hitchcock's paintings.
—Advertiser.
