A San Diego man is on a journey to rediscover his late father’s lost artwork and, in the process, uncover a glimpse of Hawaiʻi’s military history during the 1940s and '50s.
Nestor Vallar is the son of Vitaliano Vallar, a U.S. Navy cook who was handpicked by his superiors to paint lifelike oil portraits for some of the military’s top brass.
Vitaliano Vallar was stationed in Hawaiʻi from 1947 to 1949 and then again in the '50s. He died in 2005, and now Nestor Vallar is on a mission to locate his works and unearth his father’s artistic legacy.
“He was self-taught,” Nestor Vallar said about his father. “His captain, Capt. John Holbrook, realized that he had this gift… He took him out of cooking off-and-on to paint these really important admirals.”
Since rediscovering his father’s works, Nestor Vallar has dedicated himself to finding out the history behind each portrait.
According to his research, his father created portraits for military officials like Adm. Arthur W. Radford, Adm. Charles McMorris — personal advisor to Adm. Chester Nimitz — and Adm. William Parsons, the weaponeer aboard the Enola Gay.
In addition to these military portraits, Vitaliano also painted military officials' wives, families, and landscapes, Nestor said.
Through his work, Nestor Vallar has been able to exhibit his father’s portrait paintings and meet the descendants of those who received his father’s paintings as gifts.
His mission to unearth more works from his father’s legacy is ongoing, he told HPR. “It's a story that I felt needed to be told, and didn't want to get lost.”
This story aired on The Conversation on May 28, 2026. The Conversation airs weekdays at 11 a.m. Jinwook Lee adapted this story for the web.
