Archives To Auction Rare Prints At Fundraiser

Collectors take note! The Bishop Museum Archives has donated a selection of original (and extremely collectible) historic photographs by Hawai'i photographers Ray Jerome Baker, Tai Sing Loo, and N. R. Farbman as silent auction items at the 2 nd annual benefit dinner for the Art Restoration and Picture Gallery Fund at Morton's, The Steakhouse, at Ala Moana Center Monday, March 5, 2007, from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m.

Reservations for the strolling dinner buffet and auction are available at $175 per person and going fast. For reservations, call (808) 848-4157.

Rare artworks aren't the only items available in the auction. Your best bet may be an intimate Dinner for Six, featuring a Morton's chef and maitre'd who will cook a gourmet dinner in the comfort of your own home. Other specialty auction items include rare and out of print books from the Bishop Museum Press.
Steak lover's man your forks! Morton's is known for the finest USDA prime aged beef, fresh fish and seafood, hand-picked vegetables, crisp salads, elegant desserts and their signature Mortini'sâ„¢. The strolling buffet will include Shrimp Alexander, steak yum-yum.

The first Morton's opened in Chicago in 1978 and has since become a mainstay of the American business, entertainment, and social scene. Rich mahogany wood paneling, etched glass, and colorful LeRoy Neiman art work are intermingled with historic photos of old Hawai'i to create and posh, sophisticated atmosphere for any special event.

Among the delicacies and fine wines buffet strollers will be presented include giant shrimp Alexander, Blue Point oysters, Halibut Medallions, sliced New York Sirloin, smoked salmon, sea scallops with apricot chutney, and crab cakes, among others. The dessert buffet will include chocolate velvet cake, Hot Godiva chocolate cake, lovely sabayon with berries, key lime pie, and cheesecake.

Other highlights include the opportunity to view selected pieces from Bishop Museum's extraordinary collection of oil paintings of Hawai'i from the 19 th and early 20 th century, including recently restored paintings : Magnolias by Margaret G. Gillin, a painting originally exhibited in Bishop Museum's Picture Gallery in the 1890s; Scottish Landscape by Princess Ka'iulani, a painting by the Princess' own hand during her schooling in England; and Halemaumau by D. Howard Hitchcock, depicting Kilauea's crater in 1894.

Other rare pieces, greatly in need of conservation and restoration, will be exhibited including D. Howard Hitchcock's Pele in Flames and Haleakala. The latter painting shows a view of Charles Reed Bishop's home in downtown Honolulu.

All proceeds from the event benefit Bishop Museum's Art Restoration and Picture Gallery Fund. These and other paintings will be restored and expertly conserved in preparation for their eventual display in the Museum's new Picture Gallery, scheduled to open in the newly renovated Hawaiian Hall in the fall of 2007.

The massive Hawaiian Hall renovation project, estimated at $20 million, will restore the 1889 building to its former glory while presenting the Museum's unrivaled collection of Hawaiian artifacts and contemporary artworks with new Hawaiian sensitivity and perspectives with state-of-the-art exhibition and conservation techniques. Renowned museum designer, Ralph Appelbaum Associates, is masterminding the reinstallation design with creative and cultural collaboration by a team of Bishop Museum culture and design experts.

Premium tables set in the classic ambience of Morton's private Boardroom and Reserved seating options are also available, but in limited quantities. For reservations for the once-a-year event, call (808) 848-4157"¦Hurry"¦.reservations are going fast. -- www.bishopmuseum.org