Description

Katherine Bernhardt. Chroma (2021). Edition of 75. 15 Colour Lithograph on Somerset Velvet Radiant White 330gsm. Produced by Counter Studio. 75 x 100 cm (29.5 x 39.4 in). Signed, numbered and dated by the artist. Bernhardt began painting the Pink Panther after she arrived at the Pink Palace Hotel (also called the Royal Hawai’ian Hotel) located on a sandy beach in Waikiki, Oahu, not far from an eighteen-foot tall bronze sculpture of King Kamehameha I, the greatest Hawai’ian warrior leader who is usually decked out in tons of enormous lei created from eight species of bright pink orchids. The pinkness of this trip continued after she checked into the hotel that featured pink bathroom towels, pink sheets, pink eye masks for sleeping, pink carpeting, pink beach chairs, pink beach towels, pink stationery, pink sunsets, pink pancakes at breakfast, and the Pink Panther on TV screens. After Bernhardt repeatedly watched videos of the panther - lounging atop a huge pink bed and while strolling around the hotel grounds her son, Khalifa continued to watch Pink Panther videos from a cell phone - she decided that the panther could look great on large-scale canvas and large-scale lithographs too.