Andrew Chinn (1915–1996) was a Chinese-American artist and art educator, active in the

Pacific Northwest The Pacific Northwest (PNW; ) is a geographic region in Western North America bounded by its coastal waters of the Pacific Ocean to the west and, loosely, by the Rocky Mountains to the east. Though no official boundary exists, the most common ...

from the early 1930s through the 1990s. He is known for his distinctive style of watercolor painting and printmaking, and is associated with the Northwest's Asian-American arts community, the WPA artists of the

Great Depression The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...

/World War II era, and, peripherally, the Northwest School of painters.

Life and career

Andrew Nan Chinn's parents emigrated from Toyshan, Canton (modern

Taishan __NOTOC__ Taishan may refer to: *Mount Tai Mount Tai () is a mountain of historical and cultural significance located north of the city of Tai'an. It is the highest point in Shandong province, China. The tallest peak is the ''Jade Emperor Peak ...

Guangdong ) means "wide" or "vast", and has been associated with the region since the creation of Guang Prefecture in AD 226. The name "''Guang''" ultimately came from Guangxin ( zh, labels=no, first=t, t= , s=广信), an outpost established in Han dynasty ...

), China, to the United States in about 1910. He was born in

Seattle Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...

Washington Washington most commonly refers to: * George Washington (1732–1799), the first president of the United States * Washington (state), a state in the Pacific Northwest of the United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A ...

, on June 17, 1915. After his mother died of influenza in 1918, he and his older sister Ann returned to Toyshan, where, with the encouragement of his grandfather, he learned traditional calligraphy. He also became interested in painting, which, in China of the

Sun Yat Sen The Sun is the star at the centre of the Solar System. It is a massive, nearly perfect sphere of hot plasma, heated to incandescence by nuclear fusion Nuclear fusion is a nuclear reaction, reaction in which two or more atomic nuclei ...

era, was beginning to show the influence of modern European trends.Oral history interview with Andrew Chinn, by Matthew Kangas, Aug. 9, 1991; Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution Chinn returned to the US in 1927, went back to China in 1929, and then moved to Seattle for good in 1933. He attended Broadway High School, where his classmates included artists

Fay Chong Fay Chong (1912–1973) was a Chinese Americans, Chinese-American artist and educator, well known for his printmaking and watercolor painting. He was also known for his activities as an arts organizer, arts educator and WPA-era artist. Chong was ...

George Tsutakawa George Tsutakawa (, February 22, 1910 – December 18, 1997) was an American painter and sculptor best known for his avant-garde bronze fountain designs. Born in Seattle, Washington, he was raised in both the United States and Japan. He att ...

, and

Morris Graves Morris Cole Graves (August 28, 1910 – May 5, 2001) was an American painter. He was one of the earliest Modern artists from the Pacific Northwest to achieve national and international acclaim. His style, referred to by some reviewers as Mysti ...

. He, Chong, and other young artist friends formed the Chinese Art Club, holding monthly shows at a shared studio in Seattle's International District. Morris Graves,

Kenneth Callahan Kenneth Callahan (1905–1986) was an American painter and muralist who served as a catalyst for Northwest artists in the mid-20th century through his own painting, his work as assistant director and curator at the Seattle Art Museum, and his wr ...

, and William Cumming - future members of the acclaimed 'Northwest School' of painters - were frequent guests. Tsutakawa, Mayumi. ''They Painted Their Hearts: Pioneer Asian American Artists'', p.27; Wing Luke Asian Museum, Seattle, 1994; In 1939 Chinn enrolled in the

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW and informally U-Dub or U Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington, United States. Founded in 1861, the University of Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast of the Uni ...

, where he studied art under Walter Isaacs,

Ambrose Patterson Ambrose McCarthy Patterson (29 June 1877 – 26 December 1966) was an Australian-born American painter and printmaker. Life Patterson was born in Daylesford, Victoria. He studied at the Melbourne Art School under E. Phillips Fox and Tudor St ...

, Ray Hill, and others. While a student he had paintings accepted for juried shows at both the

Seattle Art Museum The Seattle Art Museum (commonly known as SAM) is an art museum located in Seattle, Washington (state), Washington, United States. The museum operates three major facilities: its main museum in downtown Seattle; the Seattle Asian Art Museum in ...

and the Frye Museum. In 1941 he joined the

Works Progress Administration The Works Progress Administration (WPA; from 1935 to 1939, then known as the Work Projects Administration from 1939 to 1943) was an American New Deal agency that employed millions of jobseekers (mostly men who were not formally educated) to car ...

Federal Art Project The Federal Art Project (1935–1943) was a New Deal program to fund the visual arts in the United States. Under national director Holger Cahill, it was one of five Federal Project Number One projects sponsored by the Works Progress Administratio ...

, under R. Bruce Inverarity, the program's director for Washington. He worked alongside Graves, Chong,

Guy Anderson Guy Anderson (November 20, 1906 – April 30, 1998) was an American artist known primarily for his oil painting who lived most of his life in the Puget Sound region of the United States. His work is in the collections of numerous museums inc ...

Helmi Juvonen Helmi Dagmar Juvonen (January 17, 1903 – October 17, 1985) was an American artist active in Seattle, Washington. Although she worked in a wide variety of media, she is best known for her prints, paintings, and drawings. She is associated with ...

Jacob Elshin Jacob Alexander Elshin (December 30, 1892 – 1976) was an American artist. Born in Saint Petersburg, Russia,Wall text in "No Longer Forgotten: Uncovering the Stories of WPA Artists in the Northwest", Tacoma Art Museum, 2020 he served as an office ...

, Julius Twohy, and other notable painters, printmakers, and sculptors. In 1945 he began a 31-year career as a technical artist at the

Boeing The Boeing Company, or simply Boeing (), is an American multinational corporation that designs, manufactures, and sells airplanes, rotorcraft, rockets, satellites, and missiles worldwide. The company also provides leasing and product support s ...

company, and became a founder of the Boeing Art Club; around this time he was also accepted for membership in the Puget Sound Group, the Northwest's oldest artists' association."Andrew Chinn, 80, Painter Of Nature, Art Teacher", ''The Seattle Times'', by Carole Beers; Jan. 16, 1996 In 1946 he began teaching evening classes in watercolor painting at

Seattle Central Community College Seattle Central College is a public college in Seattle, Washington, United States. With North Seattle College and South Seattle College, it is one of the three colleges that comprise the Seattle Colleges District. The college has a substant ...

(originally Edison Technical School), which he would continue to do for over 45 years. While the

Abstract expressionism Abstract expressionism in the United States emerged as a distinct art movement in the aftermath of World War II and gained mainstream acceptance in the 1950s, a shift from the American social realism of the 1930s influenced by the Great Depressi ...

of the Northwest mystics turned the art world on its head in the 1950s, and

Paul Horiuchi Paul Chikamasa Horiuchi (, April 12, 1906 – August 29, 1999) was an American painting, painter and collage, collagist. He was born in Yamanashi, Japan, and studied art from an early age. After immigrating to the United States in his early teen ...

, and

Frank Okada Frank Sumio Okada (1931–2000) was an American Abstract Expressionist painter, mainly active in the Pacific Northwest. His mature style often featured brightly colored, off-kilter geometric shapes done in large format, including round canvasses; ...

revolutionized Asian-American art in the 1960s, Chinn remained almost defiantly committed to the style he'd developed and loved most: traditional Asian art (often including Chinese calligraphic inscriptions) done using Western perspective, with aspects of

American realism American realism was a movement in art, music and literature that depicted contemporary social realities and the lives and everyday activities of ordinary people. The movement began in literature in the mid-19th century, and became an importan ...

and European

impressionism Impressionism was a 19th-century art movement characterized by visible brush strokes, open Composition (visual arts), composition, emphasis on accurate depiction of light in its changing qualities (often accentuating the effects of the passage ...

. An avid outdoorsman, his subject matter was most commonly the natural scenery that he loved. He usually painted from life, instead of using photos or sketches. Although his more conservative style kept him out of Seattle's avant-garde galleries, he remained a well-respected figure in the Pacific Northwest, and had his work regularly exhibited in the area's mainstream museums and galleries.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chinn, Andrew 1915 births 1996 deaths Broadway High School (Seattle) alumni American artists of Chinese descent Painters from Seattle 20th-century American painters American male painters Federal Art Project artists 20th-century American male artists