We often wonder if Louis Pohl’s young art students here in Hawaii knew the story of the wealthy socialite with the bad swing who was responsible for the journey of the teacher standing before them. It’s the kind of tale that Hollywood films are made of. While not quite a rags to riches story, the tale of Louis Pohl is along the same vein.
Louis developed a love of art at a young age when a bout of rheumatic fever kept him from school. With little else to keep him occupied, he would draw to pass the time until he was well enough to attend. Perhaps it is here that the stars began to align. Though it seemed an unattainable dream at the time, it would appear that young Louis was destined to become an artist, and slowly the cosmos hatched their plan to bring him to Hawaii where he would influence aspiring artists for years to come.
At the age of 14, while working at a golf course in Cincinnati, Louis Pohl had the good fortune to caddy for a group of wealthy women with a wagering spirit. The ladies of leisure decided that the loser of the game would grant the wish of their young caddy. It was Louis Pohl’s dream to attend art school, and when Mrs Yaeger lost the round of golf that day, Louis won the lottery of a lifetime! True to the terms of the wager, Mrs. Yaeger held up her end and paid for Louis’s tuition at the Art Academy of Cincinnati. The rest as they say, is history.
Louis spent four years as a teacher’s assistant at the academy, and also taught art to underprivileged children on weekends before moving on to forge his career. A true artist with a burning desire to create, he worked as a window display designer, a graphic artist, furniture painter, and when stationed here in Hawaii with the US Navy, Louis Pohl even painted warships. What set him apart from other artists though was his passion for wanting to cultivate the same artistic spirit in others. He believed that there was an artist lingering inside of everyone, and with permission to explore, it could be extracted. He was convinced that he could teach anyone to paint.
After an accident led to a medical discharge from the Navy, Louis returned to Cincinnati to oversee a series of works created by multiple artists for the WPA, but remember the cosmos we mentioned earlier? They had already brought him to Hawaii once before, and the stars were aligning once again to secure his return. As he continued to paint back in Cincinnati, a good friend of his here in Hawaii was in the process of establishing an art school with the Honolulu Museum of Art. With years of teaching already under his belt, Louis was asked to head up the school where he would continue to teach and influence the future artists of Hawaii for the next 35 years. He also taught at the University of Hawaii, Kamehameha and various public schools.
Though not a Hawaii native, Louis Pohl was very much a local and his work reflects a strong connection to his surroundings. From the water, to wildlife to his well known collection of volcano paintings, Louis captured the natural beauty of Hawaii in his work.
Instrumental in the establishment of the State Foundation on Culture and the Arts and the Linekona Art Center, he also authored children’s books, and even penned a regular cartoon feature for the Honolulu Advertiser called “School Daze”. All of that aside, it was his passion for the arts that drove Louis to give so much of himself to the next generation of young artists. It is for this reason that the State Legislature chose to honor him as a “Living Treasure” in 1994. Louis Pohl gave all of himself to the arts community from the time he arrived in Hawaii up to the time of his death in 1999.
While there was no way that Mrs. Yaeger could possibly have known that her bad golf game would provide years of benefit to children she would never know, there is little doubt that her role as Louis Pohl’s benefactor was a blessing to the future of Hawaii’s arts community. We owe Mrs. Yaeger a debt of gratitude.
You can view the Louis Pohl collection of works at the Louis Pohl gallery at 1142 Bethel Street in Honolulu. The gallery’s profits fund the Louis Pohl Foundation which among other things works to promote Hawaii artists and art education programs. For more information, click here: http://www.louispohlgallery.com/
