Framed & Signed Jane Chao Charcoal Drawing - Hawaiian Boy (1987)

Description

Hawaiian Boy (1987) by Jane Chao (Chinese/Hawaiian, 20th-21st century). Charcoal drawing. Signed "Jane Chao 1987" on lower left.
Size: 22" L x 16" W; 24.5" L x 18.5" W including framing
~4.5 lb
Purchased directly from Jane herself in March 1999, when she and her husband Linus Chao were operating Bed & Breadfast Mountain View on the Big Island (Hawaii).
Jane Chao was born in China, lived in Japan from age 4 to 12, then returned to Harbin in 1941. She studied art in both Japan and China, and at the end of the war, her father was imprisoned, and she and her mother fled to Taiwan. It was there that she met her husband, Linus Chao. The artist couple would relocate to Hawai'i in 1969, and Linus would eventually become an animation artist for Disney Studies (Mary Poppins) and later Hanna-Barbera (The Flinstones and Yogi Bear).
According to the artist's statement of her book, "Jane Chao was born in China, grew up in Japan, moved to Taiwan after World War II and came to Hawaii in 1969 with her family. She started learning art at a young age in Japan and continued to pursue art throughout the years. Jane has adopted Chinese and Japanese brush painting techniques and combines western concepts to create her own unique style of paintings." (Jane Chao's Art Book, publisher: The Magic Mo, 2019)
For more about Jane and Linus Chao, read "A Dream of the Heart: Island Artists Jane and Linus Chao" (Keola magazine, July-August 2019, https://keolamagazine.com/art/jane-and-linus-chao/)