Juliette May Fraser Papers: Catalogue Raisonné
About the Artist
Juliette May Fraser was born in Honolulu in 1887, during the reign of King Kalakaua when Hawaii was a kingdom. She graduated from Honolulu’s Punahou School in 1905 and earned a bachelor’s degree from Wellesley College in 1909. She was a painter, muralist, printmaker and illustrator, and even designed a half-dollar coin for the U.S. Treasury in 1928 to commemorate Hawaii’s Sesquicentennial. Her work is in the collections of the Smithsonian Institution, the Library of Congress, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Honolulu Museum of Art and state collections in Hawaii and California. She began painting murals in Hawaii in the 1920s and learned the technique for frescoes on wet plaster from Jean Charlot when he first came to Hawaii in 1949. She traveled extensively at various times, spending many months in Europe studying art. Fraser was also a writer, and a book of linoleum prints depicting Hawaiian subjects, Ke Anuenue, was published in 1952 and won an award from the American Institute of Graphic Arts. She continued to learn and produce new artworks such as stitchery and embroidery well into her 70’s. May Fraser was widely known for her deep understanding and appreciation of native Hawaiian culture and history.
View the Collection
The images are arranged by date. When an image of the artwork is available, it will appear before the corresponding file card. Fraser was not a meticulous record keeper; many of the works have multiple file cards, often with conflicting dimensions, dates or alternate titles. In most cases, just one card was selected to represent the work. This is also not a complete record of her work, as there are many known paintings by Fraser which lack file cards. Use the Browse the Collection on the right side of the page to narrow results and view images by category.
Juliette May Fraser was born in Honolulu in 1887, during the reign of King Kalakaua when Hawaii was a kingdom. She graduated from Honolulu’s Punahou School in 1905 and earned a bachelor’s degree from Wellesley College in 1909. She was a painter, muralist, printmaker and illustrator, and even designed a half-dollar coin for the U.S. Treasury in 1928 to commemorate Hawaii’s Sesquicentennial. Her work is in the collections of the Smithsonian Institution, the Library of Congress, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Honolulu Museum of Art and state collections in Hawaii and California. She began painting murals in Hawaii in the 1920s and learned the technique for frescoes on wet plaster from Jean Charlot when he first came to Hawaii in 1949. She traveled extensively at various times, spending many months in Europe studying art. Fraser was also a writer, and a book of linoleum prints depicting Hawaiian subjects, Ke Anuenue, was published in 1952 and won an award from the American Institute of Graphic Arts. She continued to learn and produce new artworks such as stitchery and embroidery well into her 70’s. May Fraser was widely known for her deep understanding and appreciation of native Hawaiian culture and history.
View the Collection
The images are arranged by date. When an image of the artwork is available, it will appear before the corresponding file card. Fraser was not a meticulous record keeper; many of the works have multiple file cards, often with conflicting dimensions, dates or alternate titles. In most cases, just one card was selected to represent the work. This is also not a complete record of her work, as there are many known paintings by Fraser which lack file cards. Use the Browse the Collection on the right side of the page to narrow results and view images by category.
![Hawaiian Holiday (labeled [Diamond Head Wall])](https://digital.library.manoa.hawaii.edu/files/square_thumbnails/5960241700e8ae0b33fdfdbf0a8a39bf.jpg "Hawaiian Holiday (labeled [Diamond Head Wall])")
![Hula ("End Wall")](https://digital.library.manoa.hawaii.edu/files/square_thumbnails/2be1afc3c3234238f92bce9beef47742.jpg "Hula ("End Wall")")
