Jules Tavernier

1844-1889

American (Paris, France; Honolulu, Hawaii)

Though he worked fewer than five years in Hawaii, Jules Tavernier became world-renowned as the premier interpreter of Kilauea volcano on the Big Island. He was born in Paris in 1844 to parents of English descent, spent his youth in London, and then returned to Paris to live with relatives. In 1861, he was admitted to the atelier of Felix Barrias at the École des Beaux-Arts, where he trained for four years. Tavernier's works were accepted for the 1864 Paris Salon, and he remained a fixture at the Salon until 1870.

After serving in the Franco-Prussian War, Tavernier returned to London in 1871, where he worked as an illustrator until financial reversals forced his relocation to New York in 1872. While there, Tavernier prepared views and genre scenes for popular magazines such as The New York Graphic and Harper's Weekly. He soon decided to strike out for San Francisco, where he quickly became the city's most popular "bohemian" upon co-founding the Bohemian Club shortly after his arrival. He also founded the Palette Club and became vice president of the San Francisco Art Association. Fourteen years later, financial troubles once again pushed him west, this time to the remote and exotic shores of Hawaii.

Jules Tavernier

Objects

Tavernier, Jules 1844-1889

An Emigrants' Boarding-House in New York

October 18, 1873