Robert Dampier self-portrait

Robert Dampier (1800, Wiltshire, England - 1874) was a British artist. In 1825, he was the expedition artist on the English ship HMS Blonde under the command of Captain George Anson Byron. The ship was returning the bodies of King Kamehameha II and Queen Kamāmalu to Hawaii, after both died from measles during a visit to England. Robert Dampier spent eleven weeks in Hawaii painting portraits in oil paint and making pencil drawings of landscapes. After returning to England, he studied law at Cambridge University and then was ordained in the Church of England. Although employed a rector, he continued to sketch until his death in 1874.

Major works by Robert Dampier are held by the Honolulu Academy of Arts and Washington Place, also in Honolulu, Hawaii.

[edit] Paintings

Robert Dampier's oil on canvas painting Karaikapa, a Native of the Sandwitch Islands, 1825

Robert Dampier's oil on canvas painting Tetuppa, a Native Female of the Sandwitch Islands, 1825

Portrait of King Kamehameha III of Hawaii, oil on canvas painting by Robert Dampier, 1825, Honolulu Academy of Arts

Portrait of Princess Nahiennaena of Hawaii, oil on canvas painting by Robert Dampier, 1825, Honolulu Academy of Arts

[edit] References

• Dampier, Robert, To the Sandwich Islands on H.M.S. Blonde, University Press of Hawaii, Honolulu, 1971. ISBN 9780870221767.
• Ellis, George R. and Marcia Morse, A Hawaii Treasury, Masterpieces from the Honolulu Academy of Arts, Tokyo, Asahi Shimbun, 2000, 146, 222.
• Forbes, David W., Encounters with Paradise: Views of Hawaii and its People, 1778-1941, Honolulu Academy of Arts, 1992, 25-89.