An Artistic Upbringing
Curtis Wilson Cost was born in California in 1953. In 1968, he moved to Oʻahu with his mother, a public school teacher. He spent summers with his father, prolific representational artist James Peter Cost, in Carmel-by-the-Sea California, where his father owned a successful one-man art gallery showcasing his paintings of coastal and rural California. Influenced by his artistic upbringing, Curtis developed a profound appreciation for drawing and painting.
1953
Inspiration Hits
Curtis grew up surfing on O'ahu, developing an admiration for the natural beauty of the islands. He had a profound love for art but had yet to establish an artistic identity. One fateful day after school, Curtis walked into a high school friend’s home filled with early works of Hawai'i representational artists, such as Howard Hitchcock and Lloyd Sexton. The once-flourishing representational art had diminished over the century as these artists passed from the scene. Curtis knew instantly that he’d found his artistic identity, and that he would paint rural Hawai'i.
1968
A Turning Point
At 18 years old, Curtis was equally at home making art or making music. He’d written many songs with the talented musician Mackey Feary, including one that made it onto the soon-to-be-popular band Kalapana's first album. Although he loved music, he became increasingly enamored with the pursuit of an art career. It was that same momentous year that Curtis met Jill Radner. She had been working at Gima's Art Gallery in Honolulu, where she learned to mat and frame artwork. Little did they know they were building the foundations for their future career.
1971
The Cost Protégé
Curtis and Jill together decided to visit Curtis's dad, James Peter Cost, in Carmel-by-the-Sea for an 8-month informal apprenticeship to learn the ins and outs of professional painting and gallery business ownership.
James Peter and his wife BettyJo, who ran The James Peter Cost Gallery, passed down a lifetime of knowledge to Curtis and Jill.
1972
Falling in Love with Maui
After his father’s master course in painting, Curtis and Jill returned to Hawai'i, settling on Maui as a quieter alternative to Oʻahu. The two first camped out in a Volkswagen Bus in Upcountry Maui, eventually moving to the cottage that inspired Curtis’ piece “My Studio”.
Carefree and happily pursuing an artistic lifestyle, Curtis was transfixed by the beauty of Maui, producing painting after painting of its scenery.
1973
Acclaim
Over the next fourteen years, Curtis began selling his paintings in local galleries and developed the reputation as a remarkable landscape artist that endures today. He became a sought after artist at Village Gallery in Lāhainā. His art was the first to be featured at Kaluanui, Hui No'eau Visual Arts Center.
Curtis became known as rural Maui’s representational landscape painter.
1973 - 1985
The One-Man Gallery Begins
After working with galleries in Lāhainā for years, Curtis saw potential for his own gallery in the owners’ quarters of the Kula Lodge. This space was dank and covered in sawdust from woodworking, but Curtis envisioned a one-man gallery located nearer to his paintings’ rural subject matter on the slopes of Haleakalā. Around the same time, Curtis and Jill began building their current home nearby. Over the next 35 years, Curtis operated his own one-man gallery out of Kula Lodge, with an additional gallery on Front Street in Lāhainā from 2000-2008.
1985-2020
Memorializing Maui
As Curtis’ style evolved, he became somewhat of a Maui record keeper. His paintings are an archive of rural Maui. The Hawai'i Department of Transportation adorned the renovated Kahului Airport with over 150 of Curtis' paintings.
Curtis Wilson Cost artwork now also hangs in Hilo and Kona airports, as well as in private homes throughout the world.
2019
The Pièce de Résistance
Photo by Ilir Bajraktari
Prior to 2020, Curtis and Jill fortuitously built a studio gallery located in their property in Kula. The stunning space became the new home for Curtis' art when the Kula Lodge gallery was forced to close after 35 years due to the pandemic. Described by Curtis as his "finest piece of art", the picturesque new studio gallery is surrounded by wisteria-covered footbridges, water features, fruit trees, flowering shrubs, and sweeping views of the west Maui mountains. By appointment only, Curtis Wilson Cost invites travelers and art lovers to experience the rural aesthetic that inspires his career.
Prior to 2020, Curtis and Jill fortuitously built a studio gallery located in their property in Kula. The stunning space became the new home for Curtis' art when the Kula Lodge gallery was forced to close after 35 years due to the pandemic. Described by Curtis as his "finest piece of art", the picturesque new studio gallery is surrounded by wisteria-covered footbridges, water features, fruit trees, flowering shrubs, and sweeping views of the west Maui mountains. By appointment only, Curtis Wilson Cost invites travelers and art lovers to experience the rural aesthetic that inspires his career.
2021
Preserving Memories
Today, The Curtis Wilson Cost gallery is the longest-running one-man gallery in the state of Hawai'i. His hundreds of paintings serve as an archive of an ever-changing Hawai'i landscape – a testament to a simpler time. His art is celebrated not only in Hawai'i but also in private collections worldwide. Start your own Curtis Wilson Cost tradition: Become a collector today.
Present
A Family of ArtistsSewistsDesigners
The Curtis Wilson Cost Gallery is a family legacy built on a deep love for art, nature, and personal expression. Curtis Wilson Cost’s journey as an artist is one rooted in family, passion, and the desire to preserve the unmatched beauty of Maui.
Curtis Wilson Cost
Curtis Wilson Cost's original paintings and reproductions of the Hawai'i are some of the most sought-after in the world. He began his art career in the 1970s, and opened the Curtis Wilson Cost Gallery at the Kula Lodge with his wife Jill Cost in 1985. Mr. Cost continues to paint multiple new works a year and has the longest running one-man gallery in the state of Hawai'i.
“My work is about place and timelessness. I have lived in Hawai'i most of my life, and over the decades, my paintings have become an archive of the islands as they have grown, preserving them through renderings of the way they once were, and the way they remain underneath the surface of change.” - CWC
Jill Ann Radner Cost: Curtis’ Wife
Jill Ann Radner Cost is the powerhouse behind the Curtis Wilson Cost Gallery. She has been managing the business behind the scenes since the inception of Mr. Cost’s painting career. She is a talented sewist and had her own one-woman business called Kulia Batiks before she and Mr. Cost built their fine art gallery together in the early 1980s. Now she also sews wares with her daughter Julia's original fabrics, which are available in the gallery.
James Peter Cost: Curtis’ Father
James Peter Cost was a California representative painter and a teacher of Fine Art. He co-owned the James Peter Cost Gallery in Carmel with his wife BettyJo Cost. He was the recipient of the Gold Medal from Franklin Mint in 1975 for the most outstanding American Seascape Artist. Two of his paintings made it to the front cover of Reader's Digest in the 60s and 70s, and many of his images were printed on the covers of California magazines. His artwork is now on display in the Monterey County Museum of Art, and the Museum collection at Midwestern State University in Texas. In addition, Cost’s work can be found at President Ronald Reagan’s Young American’s Foundation.
Rogene Radner: Jill’s Mother
Rogene Radner, was a professional painter, illustrator, fashion designer, and textile designer. She was an art professor at UH Mānoa, a graphic designer and an illustrator for a book that's in the Smithsonian. In the 1960s, she designed fabrics for Malia, Hawaii, Inc on O’ahu. In the 1970s, she had her own fashion line on Maui called “Rogene of Hawaii.” Her textiles were featured in National Geographic’s “Hawaii” published in 1970. The caption in National Geographic reads: “At Malia Hawaii, Inc, Rogene Radner paints bright patterns for holiday wear.”
Julia Allisson Cost: Curtis’ Daughter
Julia Allisson Cost has been painting professionally since 2005. In addition to selling her paintings and giclées, she also designs textiles and has a fabric shop within the Cost Gallery. Her paintings and fabrics are collected around the world. In 2023, she published The Girl and the Boat, a wordless picture book and tale of friendship told through 30 of her oil paintings. The book is now carried in shops around the country.
Elliott Wilson Cost: Curtis’ Son
Elliott Wilson Cost is an artist, designer, and programmer living in Rotterdam. Previously, he was a digital designer at Bloomberg News, helped design and develop Kickstarter's The Creative Independent, and taught interaction design at The New School Parsons in New York City. Growing up in a deeply creative family has shaped how he looks at the world.
