John Melville Kelly (1878-1962) was born in Arizona and his early life included prize fighting. He studied at the Partington Art School in San Francisco where he met his wife Katherine “Kate” (1882-1964), a sculptor and printmaker. They were married in 1908.

After being a staff artist for the San Francisco Examiner for 14 years, Kelly came to Hawaii in 1923 to work with an advertising firm for a year. He and his wife decided to stay after developing a strong connection to the islands.

Kate Kelly took an etching class from Huc Luquiens at the University of Hawaii and taught her husband the basics of etching on copper plates. He expanded his printmaking repertoire to include drypoint and aquatint. His techniques included meticulous craftsmanship, complex color registration and controlled aquatint gradations. He was a prolific artist and shared his knowledge with others.

Kelly was a master draftsman and produced etchings and aquatints depicting Polynesians and beautiful images of the landscape. He played a key role in creating the idyllic image of Hawaii prevalent in the 1930s and 1940s. In his work, he used people he knew as models and captured romanticized island lifestyles. His art is testimony to his deep appreciation to the culture and people of Hawaii from the 1930s through the 1950s. He is also known for his menu covers, commissioned by the Royal Hawaiian Hotel in the early days of tourism in the Territory.

Because Kate Kelly’s eyesight was failing, she gave up her art career in the mid-1930s and devoted herself to promoting her husband’s career by skillfully marketing his work. Part of that was selling his work in Waikiki and sometimes bringing buyers back to the Kelly home at Black Point.

Along with others, Kelly was a founding member of the Honolulu Printmakers in 1928. The organization honored him in 1934 and 1953 by selecting him to create the member gift print that accompanies their annual exhibition.

His works are in the collections of the National Galleries, the Fogg Museum, the New York Public Library, the Nelson-Atkins Museum, San Diego Museum of Art, the Hawaii State Art Museum and others. An extensive collection is in the Honolulu Museum of Art which has held two significant Kelly exhibitions. One was in 1962 to commemorate his life and work. The other was in 2005, a retrospective of over 250 etchings, his printing press and tools, and a video presentation.