A Printmaker in Paradise: The Art and Life of Charles W. Bartlett

This publication celebrates the career of painter and printmaker Charles W. Bartlett (1860-1940) and provides the only complete catalogue raisonne of his known woodblock and intaglio prints which, in the past decade, have reached an international audience. It also includes a Bartlett-family memoir and an essay by Richard Miles, author of several books and many articles on Western artists who, like Bartlett, gained fame as printmakers working in Japan with the legendary Watanabe Print Shop.Born in England, Charles W. Bartlett enjoyed acclaim as a painter in London before spending several years in Asia and arriving in Honolulu in 1917, where he remained for the rest of his life. Bartlett is recognized for his depictions of China, Japan, India, and Hawaii in a variety of media. The publication surveys Bartlett's entire career beginning with his early work -- deeply human representations of harsh peasant life in Brittany and rural Holland -- and explores his fascination with Asia and Hawaii. It offers additional insights into Bartlett's considerations on humankind, the 'exoticism' of the East, and taste and patronage in Hawaii. The catalogue raisonne, compiled by lead author Jennifer Saville, curator of Western art at the Honolulu Academy of Arts, with Richard Miles, documents the extensive holdings of Bartlett prints in the collection of the Honolulu Academy of Arts, the finest such collection anywhere.