Shirley Russell: Drying Fish Nets

SCHOLARSHIP AUCTION 2009
Artist: Shirley Russell
Title: Drying Fish Nets
Medium: oil on canvas
Dimensions: 21” x 31”
Date: circa 1950 

A large masterpiece by renowned local artist, Shirley Russell, Drying Fish Nets, is a powerful description of one of the major and favorite activities in island life.  The wonderful close-up view of the nets strung up on a coastal tree reminds us of days either throwing nets in the ocean and patiently waiting for the catch or watching this beloved Hawaiian ritual unfold.  With her modernist technique, Russell captured both the expansive size of the nets and the wonderful way that we can see through the webs of netting into the foliage of the tree on which they hang.  The subject is both informal yet monumental, one of the attributes of great modern art.  It is a genre scene where the fishermen, although not visible, are implied and the spotlight falls on the casual draping of the main tool of their trade.

With a spectrum of brown, orange, and yellow swatches interspersed with the verdant green of the tree, Russell gave a rich texture to the sun-drenched latticework.  She outlined the rope in calligraphic black lines that distinguish each fold of the net and set off the knots tying it to the tree.  At the left is an area of cobalt blue that represents the sea from which the nets were pulled after hauling their precious catch.  A strong abstract work, Drying Fish Nets is also appreciated for the warmth of its colors, the energy of its patterns, and the metaphor of the island relationship with the sea.

Shirley Russell (1886-1985) was a popular Honolulu painter and printmaker whose career spanned more than 70 years.  She was part of a group of painters who pushed typical Hawaiian subjects into the more expressive and abstract directives representative of the Modernist movement. Graduating from Stanford University in 1908 after studying art and modern language, Shirley went on to study in New York and Paris.  Her sojourn in Paris in 1927 resulted in her exhibiting one of her paintings in the Spring Salon. In order to keep up with the current artistic trends she continued her studies in Paris again in 1937 and then after World War II.  In 1923, Shirley moved to Hawai’i and taught art for twenty-three years at McKinley High School while at the same time mentoring emerging Hawaiian artists.  Her favorite subjects included still life, landscapes, and seascapes; she studied under master seascape artist, Lionel Walden.  Her lively brushwork, colorful palette, and her keen appreciation of the light found in Hawai’i are distinctly impressionistic. Shirley was a frequent exhibitor at the Honolulu Academy of Arts, presenting three one-person shows as well as earning many awards.  She showed her work on the U.S. Mainland, in Paris, and in Tokyo.

Mr. and Mrs. James T. King '92