Presented by C.J. Cook

Long before mid-century American Tiki bars popularized a fantasy Pacific, Robert Lee Eskridge lived in the islands, learned from local communities, and painted daily life. His art stands at a crossroads: authentic immersion on one side, the emerging Tiki aesthetic on the other. He wrote, “The artist… has taken upon himself the task of finding… all the color and adventure in this life.”

This talk explores how Eskridge bridged Polynesia of the 1920s with America's stylized Pacific imagination. From Paris to Tahiti and Hawaiʻi, his bold Art Deco vision helped shape how America pictured the South Pacific.

C. J. Cook is an award-winning author and historian whose work focuses on the art, artists, and cultural history of the South Pacific. His first book, Tyree, Artist of the South Pacific, received two Golds from IBPA in 2018 for Best Biography and Cover. His second biography, Leeteg, earned a Gold Medal for Best Biography in 2022. In 2023, Cook published Beauty in the Beast, and last year, Edithe Beutler. This biography of Robert Lee Eskridge is Cook's most ambitious work to date, spanning more than 340 pages and 500 images, and offering the most comprehensive account yet of the artist's remarkable life and legacy.