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JULES TAVERNIER

Jules Tavernier is widely known and celebrated for his Hawaiian scenes, primarily landscape paintings that often prominently featured active volcanoes. His paintings were often grand, panoramic views with deep contrasts between the darker sections of the canvas and the brightly colored volcanic lava flows.

Tavernier was born in Paris, France in 1844, where he studied at the Ecole des Beaux Arts, and by age 20 he had exhibited to acclaim at the prestigious Paris Salon. He worked as an artist-war correspondent during the Franco-Prussian war, then moved to London for a brief period and made his living as an illustrator.

In 1873 Tavernier immigrated to the U.S., where he sketched his way across the country on horseback as an illustrator for Harper’s Weekly making sketches of the vast western landscape. In California by 1875, he served as Vice President of the San Francisco Art Association for a time, and helped to found the Bohemian Club. He later established a studio in Monterey and invited other artists to join him there, forming a small art colony. He married Lizzie Fulton in 1877 and began what was a tumultuous relationship, marred by his tendency towards running up debts and drinking to excess. He was very successful as an artist but was eventually forced to leave town, returning to San Francisco in 1879. He worked there in a studio with fellow artists, including Julian Rix.

In 1884 he fled his debts and embarked for Hawaii to specialize in the moody nocturnes of active volcanoes that brought him fame. His works there were so popular, he eventually became the official painter to King Kalakaua. His descent into debt unfortunately continued and, as a result of local laws that did not allow those who could not pay their bills to leave the island, he remained there, drinking himself to death at age 45 in Honolulu in 1889.

His paintings can be found in the collections of the Oakland Museum, De Young Museum, the Honolulu Academy of Arts, The Yosemite National Park Museum, and the Bohemian Club as well as numerous other prestigious institutions and libraries.

For additional information, visit:

Jules Tavernier and the Elem Pomo, Exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art Aug-Nov 2021
Honolulu Museum of Art
Isaacs Art Center - Hawai’i Prepatory Academy
YouTube Video: Jules Tavernier's Painting "Dance in a Subterranean Roundhouse" at the Metropolitan Museum of Art
The Society of California Pioneers