Michael D. Horikawa has been celebrating Christmas almost every Wednesday for 2 1/2 years.

Inside the Bishop Museum's art archives, his midweek volunteer efforts have uncovered surprises that will be hung not by the mantle with care, but in the museum's new Picture Gallery next month. The gallery is part of a $21 million Hawaiian Hall renovation project that began in 2006. Some artworks will be on display for the first time.

Born on O'ahu in 1951, Horikawa has had a passion for art and collecting all his life. As a child he took classes at the Honolulu Academy of Arts. He has an intuitive artist's eye, which informed his own artwork and his commercial photography ventures as well as his collecting.

Many of Horikawa's photographs grace the popular "Finding Paradise: Island Art in Private Collections" book that he co-authored with Don Severson and Jennifer Saville. The book accompanied the companion exhibit at the Honolulu Academy of Arts.

However, it is Horikawa's mind, with its wealth of information on Hawaiian art, artifacts and antiques that keeps him in demand at the Bishop Museum and the Honolulu Academy of Arts, where he sits on the executive board of directors. He volunteers his time because, he says, "bringing this collection back into public view for the people of Hawai'i is one of the most exciting and significant art projects of my life."

"The contributions he is making here are huge, generational," says Charlie Aldinger, director of public relations. "The magnitude of what he has given to the community should be lauded."

That sentiment is echoed by Amy Miller Marvin, vice president for institutional advancement at the museum: "His passion for Hawai'i and his passion for art are making Bernice Pauahi Bishop's dream come true of helping to keep our island's rich cultural heritage and history alive for the children of Hawai'i."

Horikawa is not only the art archaeologist, digging through and curating the collection, he is also involved in fundraising efforts to care for the collection.

"I do what has to be done," says Horikawa. "My commitment is 24/7."

That commitment will continue in the coming years to bring more of what Horikawa calls "the finest 19th-century collection of Hawaiian art that exists in the world today. Period." There are plans to rotate the collection as more pieces are curated, conserved, restored and framed for future exhibitions. The museum's collection also focuses on rare 18th-century pieces.

Horikawa and DeSoto Brown, Bishop Museum archivist, worked together to narrow down the hundreds of oil paintings and thousands of works on paper to 50 paintings that will be exhibited alongside glass cases displaying rare books, botanical prints and other works on paper from the museum's archives.

For 35 years, Horikawa has mounted a significant and impressive collection of his own. His gallery, Michael D. Horikawa Fine Arts in Manoa, has for four years been open for business by appointment only.

"I don't make a living off this," he says. "I'm a collector first, dealer second. When I make money, it's funneled back into it again. It's an obsession now."

He answers other questions:

Q. How did you get involved in volunteering for this project?

A. Bill Brown, the ex-director, invited me to lunch and later asked me what I wanted to see. I said, "I want to see the legendary art collection that I have heard all my life is rotting away in the basement." Of course that wasn't the case. It's on the third floor in a climate-controlled room. I started going through the racks, just amazed. Out of the corner of my eye I saw filing cabinets and flat files. He opened one and said, "Take a look at this." There were a dozen unframed Webbers — works on paper. Unbelievable. (Webber is the 18th-century British artist who accompanied Capt. James Cook on his voyaging expeditions.)

"Bill," I said, "This is worth more money then the entire Science Lab you are building right now. People have to see this stuff. If you ever need help, let me know."

Six months later, he called me up and asked if I wanted to work on the project. Many of these pieces hadn't been displayed for 70 years. "We trust you — do what you want," he said. So, I went in and started prioritizing the collection. Astounding.

Q. How many pieces did you start with?

A. Approximately 250 oil paintings and 4,000 works on paper. I'm going to be working years just on this part of the collection. Many of them are in horrible frames. A perfect example is "Death of Cook" by George Carter. It's an extremely important painting, worth $1 million or more. I think there are only four or five versions of it. One is in the Peabody Museum. I dismissed it because it was cartoony and in a Mexican black velvet frame. I thought it was a copy. He pulled back the plastic, and I saw the signature. He told me it was last shown in 1977, in King's Alley. That explained the black velvet frame. We replaced that frame with an 18th-century Rococo frame and proceeded to raise money, reframe and restore other paintings. We have lots more to do.

Q. Do you do art restoration?

A. No, I am just the conductor.

Q. Were you involved in designing the way the paintings will be displayed?

A. Yes. The paintings are going to be displayed differently — more in the feel and style of a Victorian salon — cluttered all over. There will be a calabash here, a piece of furniture there. What DeSoto and I have come up with is a good balance between portraits, volcanoes, landscapes and seascapes. We had a shared vision.

Q. What would you say is the basis for your statement that the museum has the finest 19th-century collection of Hawaiian art in the world today?

A. There are some really important artists like Peale, Perry, Coulter, Strong, Hitchcock and Furneaux. In over 30 years, I've only seen less then six Furneaux for sale. There are 40 in this collection. The museum has the largest volume of paintings by these artists that I've seen. I know that other institutions may have 10 to 25 pieces — the Bishop has 150. There's no comparison. They also have earlier and really strong examples. The Honolulu Academy of Arts, for instance, is stronger in 20th-century works.

Q. What would you say is your favorite piece?

A. I'm a visually oriented person. Then again, I also know "Death of Cook" is the single most important painting in the show. Would I want to hang it in my living room? No. But, it is a painting of incredible history. I also really like Titian Ramsay Peale's "Daylight."

Q. I know our readers want to know: What advice would you give new collectors?

A. When I was 20, I bought my first really expensive painting. My rent was $300 a month. I spent $5,000 on the painting, tapping out every account I had in one year to pay for it. It was a Jules Tavernier volcano piece. I still have it. Buy what you love. If it goes up in value, terrific. If it doesn't, who cares, you love it.

Victoria Gail White's artist Q-and-A appears on the last Sunday of each month.

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