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Surfing Paintings Gallery |
Starting Lineup
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Starting Lineup
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Surfer
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Enter Gallery
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Gallery Description
The first time the term “surfing” was ever mentioned by a westerner was in the journal of Captain King, Cook’s voyages, March 1779. The detailed and at the same time humorous description shows how ignorant they were of this Hawaiian sport. Hawaiian history has many records to tell of this much-loved sport. Rock Carvings, chants and lores dating as far as 1500 A.D gives proof that this sport had its origin long before the Polynesian culture. Surfing was part of Kapu System of laws, which bounded the chiefs and the royalty. The type of wood used for the surfing board and the length of the board depended on the class of the person who was using it.
The making of the surfboard was an elaborate process. First the tree was chosen and cut down after some rituals. It was shaped and chipped to a rough board shaped structure, planed using rough stones, blackened with stains or soot and finally treated with oil to give it a glossy finish. After each use, the board was treated with coconut oil and then wrapped in cloth to protect it. This sport continued to be popular till 1820, when the missionaries arrived from New England. They preached against sports and other forms of entertainment, thus bringing about the decline of surfing along with other aspects of the Polynesian culture.
Later in 1905, a teenager named Duke Kahanamoku and his friends started their own surfing club called “The Club of the Waves”. They are the ones who initiated the rebirth of surfing in Hawaii. The surfing demonstration by an Irish Hawaiian George Freeth on the beaches of California was another milestone in popularizing this game in other parts of the world. The California shores soon saw some expansion and innovation in the size, weight and shape of boards, the materials used and the styles of surfing.
The polyurethane board was introduced around 1957 and the short boards around 1968. Both of them changed the face of the game making it faster and more thrilling then ever before. Over the years many famous surfers like John Whitmore, Miki Dora, Mike Doyle and many others have brought out the spirit of surfing making it a very common and enjoyable sport all over the world.
Check our gallery of surfing paintings for some beautiful paintings of surfboards, mighty waves and this beautiful sport of surfing.
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Saturday, July, 5 th
2008
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