Ogura Yonesuke Itoh was a Japanese-American artist. He was born in Japan in 1870. At 25 years of age, he jumped ship in Hawaii and hid from the authorities in Punchbowl Crater. He became a member of Hawaii’s volcano school

Volcano School

The Volcano School refers to a group of non-native Hawaiian artists who painted dramatic nocturnal scenes of Hawaii’s erupting volcanoes. Some of the artists also produced watercolors, which, by the nature of the medium, tended to be diurnal...

 of landscape painters. Ogura is considered to be the first ethnically Japanese painter of any stature to paint Hawaiian subjects. His paintings closely resemble those of Jules Tavernier

Jules Tavernier (painter)

Jules Tavernier was a French painter. He was born in Paris in 1844 and died in Honolulu, Hawaii, in 1889. He studied with the French painter, Félix Joseph Barrias , but left France in the 1870s, never to return. Tavernier was employed as an illustrator by Harper's Magazine, which sent him on...

. Itoh left many of his paintings unsigned, possibly because he was in Hawaii illegally, and some of these unsigned paintings have been incorrectly attributed to Tavernier

Jules Tavernier (painter)

Jules Tavernier was a French painter. He was born in Paris in 1844 and died in Honolulu, Hawaii, in 1889. He studied with the French painter, Félix Joseph Barrias , but left France in the 1870s, never to return. Tavernier was employed as an illustrator by Harper's Magazine, which sent him on...

. Ogura died in 1940.

The Honolulu Academy of Arts

Honolulu Academy of Arts

The Honolulu Academy of Arts is an art museum in Honolulu in the state of Hawaii. Since its founding in 1922 by Anna Rice Cooke and opening April 8, 1927, its collections have grown to over 40,000 works of art.-Description:...

 usually has at least one painting by Ogura Yonesuke Itoh on display with other examples of the volcano school

Volcano School

The Volcano School refers to a group of non-native Hawaiian artists who painted dramatic nocturnal scenes of Hawaii’s erupting volcanoes. Some of the artists also produced watercolors, which, by the nature of the medium, tended to be diurnal...

.