Artful Hotels of the World     |     home
back to North America
Wailea Resort, Hawaii




GRAND WAILEA RESORT HOTEL & SPA, Wailea, Hawaii

A large collection of contemporary art is located in the interior and exterior of the hotel. The international collection includes works by Picasso, Leger, Botero, and Warhol. The Picasso estate collection of original lithographs was inherited by his granddaughter, Marina Picasso, and part of this collection is now exhibited in NaPua Gallery, and is part of the personal art collection of Takeshi Sekiguchi, the developer of the Grand Wailea Resort, Hotel & Spa.




Fernand Leger is represented by a set of 18 bronzes created during 1950 - 1953 and cast posthumously in 1960 -- one of only two complete sets in the world. Also on display is Leger's painted bronze sculpture, Les Femmes au Perroquet, in the NaPua Gallery.







Some of the other works of art located on the grounds and in the hotel include:

The Grand Wailea Resort displays its collection of nine Botero bronzes within the main lobby atrium. Resting amidst blooming gardens are: Paolina, La France, Broadgate Venue, Woman with Mirror, Woman Smoking a Cigarette, Mother and Child, The Lovers, Man with Cane, and Sleepless Night.  

In 1987, The owner and developer of Grand Wailea Resort purchased 13 works by Andy Warhol from the "Reversal Series" of Marilyn Monroe. The original "Marilyns" are silkscreens on canvas and were done between 1979 and 1986.


Sean K.L. Browne studied marble carving under Paoli Silverio in Italy and received a Fullbright Fellowship to study stone sculpture in Japan under Isamu Noguchi.

His works - metal and stone sculptures which often reflect Hawaiian motifs such as the  "Manu Lei" (Bird Pendant) - have been exhibited in Hawaii, California, Italy and Japan.

Also displayed on the grounds of Grand Wailea Resort is Browne's "Wa'u Pohaku" (Stone Scraper).










Maui Captures the Sun, by Shige Yamada, is a noted sculptor whose career has spanned more than three decades.  

The work is a focal point in Grand Wailea Resort's formal restaurant, the Grand Dining Room Maui.  

Yamada has written a book on the development of the craft of ceramics in Hawaii and has done educational research on international crafts and contemporary American sculpture and painting.  

His work has been exhibited in the Museum of Modern Art - Paris and the Palace of Fine Arts - Belgium.


"Beginnings", one of four in a set of stained glass murals, is an integral part of Grand Wailea Resort's Seaside Chapel. A detail of Yvonne Cheng's intricate Mosaic entitled "Crossroads" is seen here.

 Yvonne Cheng grew up in Indonesia, and for 20 years she has been a familiar figure in the art world of Hawaii. Cheng has drawn on memories of her exotic homeland in her rich use of color dyes and varied patterns.

 A number of her works are also displayed in the Grand Wailea Resort's guest rooms and suites, and batiks are found in every major public collection in the islands. Her contribution to the rich heritage of island art is evident everywhere.












Satoru Abe's sculptures of abstracted natural forms blend in with their real counterparts while at the same time emphasizing the artist's craftmanship and inherent qualities of the chosen media.

He is known for his welded metal, especially copper and bronze, and wood sculptures. Abe has exhibited extensively both nationally and internationally.   Satoru Abe was elected a "Living Treasure" of Hawaii.  The works at the Wailea Resort include:  "The Moon Over the Trees"; "Three Landscapes"; "Twin Trees"; "The Moon Through the Trees" ; "Coral Trees"




Douglas Riseborough, a Canadian by birth, began his career in Los Angeles where he painted murals for U.C.L.A. in the Law Library. Collectors of his work include the royal family in Saudi Arabia, Mr. and Mrs. Oscar Hammerstein and actor Carroll O'Connor.   

The mural "The Birth of Maui",  was commissioned by Grand Wailea, to be displayed in the resort's Grand Dining Room. The mural depicts the legend of the demigod Maui, as told in ancient Hawaii. Legend has it that the days were much shorter then, because the sun would race across the sky. Hina, mother of demigod Maui, complained to her son that her tapa cloth did not have enough time to dry. So early one morning, Maui climbed to the summit of Mount Haleakala and lassoed the sun. As a result, the sun agreed to slow its pace and the tapa cloth of Maui's mother could now dry properly.


Other artists represented in the collection include Mordecai Ardon, Ben Kikuyama, Ting Shao Kuang, Diana Lehr, Zhou Ling, Jennifer Markes, Neda Al-Hilali, Clytie Alexander, Laura Artusio, Laurie Baack, Jason Barrett, Jeffrey Becom, John Belingher, Billy Al Bengston, Mike Berg, Martin L. Bernstein, Pam Beyette, Stanley Boxer, Hilary Brace, Susan Braun, Robert C. Brown , Chad Buck, Frances Caplan, Robert Chapla, Timothy Chapman, Linda Chlouber, Norlyn Coar, Jennifer Coleman, Camille Cornelius, Jean Covina, Sharon Cox, Will David, Chris DeCamp, Dora DeLarios, Gary Denmark, Darin Donovan, Laurence Dreiband, William Duart, Jean Edelstein, Mark Evans, Shawn Farley, Frank Faulkner, Jud Fine, Stuart Fineman, Lynn Finkelor, Susan Fiori , Jose-Lynn Fisher,  Patricia Forrest Ellen Frank, William Gaetjins, David Garcia, Gilbert Gerard, Josette Simone-Gestin, Steve Gibson, Melinda Stickney Gibson, Don Giffin, Carson Gladson, Carla Golembe, Skip Gregory, James Griffith, Susan Hersey, Charles Christopher Hill, Channa Horwitz, Irmgard, Joann Isaac, Rocky Jenson, Julienn Johnson, Vivian Johnson, Joanne Julian, Erica Kahn, Katherine Katz, Tobin Keller, Ellsworth Kelly, Donna Levinstone, Joyce Lieberman, Jack Lillis, Joaquin Torrents Llado, Mary Ellen Long, Lorraine Lubner, William  Lustenader, Hugh Margerum, Betsy Margolius, Bruce Marsh, Francine Matarazzo, Jay D. McCafferty, Donna McGinnis, Mary Foster Michel, Robert Millet, Todd Miner, Mineo Mizuno,  Paul Montgomery, H.G. Moon, Gary Nisbet, Nitska, Jonde Northcutt, Lisa Paperno, Carmen Perivale, Shirley Pettibone, Wayne Potraz, Eleanor Rappe, Camille Rendal, Curtis Ripley, James Risser, Victoria Ryan, Donald Saff, Italo Scanga, Raymond Saunders, Arnold Schiffrin,  Sherry Schrut, Schutt, Peter Shire, Cheryl Simeone, Seth Singer, Hunt Slonem, Daniel Solomon, Dar Spain, Scott Stevens, Patrick Surgalsm, Mark Tomlinson, Gail Tomura, Joyce Treiman, Ebrahimi Turaj, Rudy Van Brussel, Joan Scott Walker, Stephanie Weber, Barbara Weldon, Sally Wetherby, Bill Wheeler, Nancy Willis, Gary Willoughby, Yasharel, Peter Zaleski