Jan Schaafsma, who taught himself to create art, captured the beauty of Hanalei during the territorial era.

An artistic view
of territorial days

Jan Schaafsma emigrated from his native Holland to the islands in 1909. In addition to establishing careers that ran the gamut from accountant, businessman and neighbor-island correspondent for Honolulu newspapers, he was a self-taught artist.

'Paintings and Drawings of Territorial Hawaii' Where: Special Exhibits Gallery, Lyman Museum, 376 Haili St., Hilo When: Through Feb. 5 Hours: 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Mondays through Saturdays Call: 808-935-5021

More than 70 paintings, sketches and watercolors by Schaafsma are on exhibit at Hilo's Lyman Museum, including works from the museum's collection, as well as pieces on loan from his family.

Covering the period from 1910-45, Schaafsma's landscapes, both impressionistic and realistic, depict scenes from Hawaii's territorial days.

Reviewer Alan McNarie of the Big Island Journal wrote when the exhibition opened that "(Schaafsma) painted or drew on everything: canvas, paper, Masonite, the back of a sign advertising tires from his store, even the back of a 5-million Deutschmark note. He used oils, pastels, pen-and-ink, watercolors and various combinations thereof."

McNarie also said that "the historical value of Schaafsma's work is also enhanced by the fact that he resists the temptation to romanticize Hawaii."

An image of off Vineyard Street, for example, captures a canal-side Honolulu neighborhood -- complete with a sewer pipe spewing its contents into the water. "Unsanitary Hawai'i" shows shanties built over a stagnant lagoon, and "Hilo Town and Mauna Kea" includes a rare glimpse of Shinmachi, the Japanese neighborhood wiped out by a tsunami.

The State Foundation for Culture and the Arts is among the exhibit's sponsors.

Schaafsma's portrait of River Street.