Louis Choris (1795-1828)

Louis (Ludovik) Choris (1795-1828), a Russian of German extraction, showed a talent for natural history illustration at a remarkably early age and won high praise for his pictorial work on Biberstein's journey to the Caucasus in 1813. His most celebrated publications, however, were the Voyage Pittoresque Autour du Mondeand the Vues et Paysages des Regions Equinoxiales. In both of these magnificent works, Choris provided important pictorial representations of the people, landscape, and artifacts of the still-mysterious islands of the Pacific, California, Alaska, the northwest coast of America, and other far-off lands. Choris had first-hand knowledge of these places, having been the official artist accompanying the Russian expedition around the world led by Otto von Kotzebue, the primary object of which was the search for a Northwest Passage. The voyage took place in 1815-1818 aboard the Rurik, which entered the Pacific via the Horn and eventually returned to Europe via the Cape of Good Hope. Choris had been invited by the St. Petersburg Academy to accompany Kotzbue. The illustrations concern all aspects of native life and culture, and Choris’s books are considered to be one of the most beautiful relating to travel.

Choris made multiple drawings of Kamehameha in Hawai’i, of which innumerable copies were created later by others. The scarce, hand-colored, copper plate engravings such as seen below are usually found in museums.

^{courtsey of Kapalaea Fine Arts}