Juanita Judy Vitousek: Watercolorist of the Islands

 

Born in Silverton, Oregon, Juanita Judy Vitousek (1892-1988) lived in California as a youngster and studied at the University of California. After graduation, she moved to Hawaiʻi from Healdsburg, in Northern California, with her husband in 1917. Most of her career was spent in the islands but she was also an avid traveler. Vitousek became an active force in the Hawai'ian art community and by the late 1920s, began to concentrate on two specific areas: landscape and floral studies. Her paintings would ultimately present some of the most expressive 20th-century depictions on both the landscapes and spectacular flora of Hawaiʻi. 

Manoa
Juanita Judy Vitousek
Watercolor 
n.d.
22" x 30"

Makapu'u
Juanita Judy Vitousek
Watercolor 
n.d.
22" x 30"

Vitousek's watercolors came to the attention of galleries and collectors, not only in Hawaiʻi, but across the country as well. She, along with Juliette May Fraser and Madge Tennent, became part of a group in Hawai’i who formed "The Seven," one of the earliest formalized coalitions of women artists in the United States. A frequent exhibitor with the Association of Honolulu Artists, she received awards in 1933 and 1937 and had several one-person shows at the Honolulu Museum of Art, the first in 1941. In addition to her frequent exhibitions in Honolulu, Vitousek showed her work in Boston, Los Angeles, Santa Barbara, San Francisco, and Seattle. She continued to study at the University of Hawai’i with artists Joseph Albers, Jean Charlot, and Millard Sheets. 

Untitled
Juanita Judy Vitousek
Watercolor 
n.d.
22" x 30"

Island Home
Juanita Judy Vitousek
Watercolor 
n.d.
22" x 30"

An active and dedicated artist, Juanita Vitousek painted well into her nineties.

Sources_____________________________________________________________

askART, https://www.askart.com/artist/Juanita_Judy_Vitousek/103739/Juanita_Judy_Vitousek.aspx, retrieved March 25, 2023.

Art Isaacs Center, Hawai'i Preparatory Academy, https://isaacsartcenter.hpa.edu/artist-works.php?artistId=158221&artist=Juanita+Vitousek+%281890-1988%29, retrieved March 25, 2023.

Cedar Street Galleries, https://cedarstreetgalleries.com/bin/works.cgi?Artist=Vitousek1890-1988Juanita, retrieved March 25, 2023