Tyrus Wong (October 25, 1910 – December 30, 2016) was a Chinese-born American artist. He was a
painter
Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called the "matrix" or "support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush, but other implements, such as knives, sponges, and ...
,
animator,
calligrapher
Calligraphy (from el, link=y, καλλιγραφία) is a visual art related to writing. It is the design and execution of lettering with a pen, ink brush, or other writing instrument. Contemporary calligraphic practice can be defined as " ...
,
muralist
A mural is any piece of graphic artwork that is painted or applied directly to a wall, ceiling or other permanent substrate. Mural techniques include fresco, mosaic, graffiti and marouflage.
Word mural in art
The word ''mural'' is a Spanish ...
,
ceramicist
Ceramic art is art made from ceramic materials, including clay. It may take forms including artistic pottery, including tableware, tiles, figurines and other sculpture. As one of the plastic arts, ceramic art is one of the visual arts. Whil ...
,
lithographer
Lithography () is a planographic method of printing originally based on the immiscibility of oil and water. The printing is from a stone ( lithographic limestone) or a metal plate with a smooth surface. It was invented in 1796 by the German ...
and
kite maker, as well as a
set designer
Scenic design (also known as scenography, stage design, or set design) is the creation of theatrical, as well as film or television scenery. Scenic designers come from a variety of artistic backgrounds, but in recent years, are mostly trained ...
and
storyboard artist
A storyboard artist (sometimes called a story artist or visualizer) creates storyboards for advertising agencies and film productions.
Work
A storyboard artist visualizes stories and sketches frames of the story. Quick pencil drawings and marke ...
. One of the most-influential and celebrated Asian-American artists of the 20th century,
Wong was also a film production illustrator, who worked for
Disney
The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...
and
Warner Brothers
Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American Film studio, film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios, Burbank, Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, Califo ...
. He was a muralist for the
Works Progress Administration
The Works Progress Administration (WPA; renamed in 1939 as the Work Projects Administration) was an American New Deal agency that employed millions of jobseekers (mostly men who were not formally educated) to carry out public works projects, in ...
(WPA), as well as a greeting card artist for
Hallmark Cards
Hallmark Cards, Inc. is a private, family-owned American company based in Kansas City, Missouri. Founded in 1910 by Joyce Hall, Hallmark is the oldest and largest manufacturer of greeting cards in the United States. In 1985, the company was aw ...
. Most notably, he was the lead production illustrator on Disney's 1942 film ''
Bambi
''Bambi'' is a 1942 American animated drama film directed by David Hand (supervising a team of sequence directors), produced by Walt Disney and based on the 1923 book '' Bambi, a Life in the Woods'' by Austrian author and hunter Felix Sal ...
'', taking inspiration from
Song dynasty
The Song dynasty (; ; 960–1279) was an imperial dynasty of China that began in 960 and lasted until 1279. The dynasty was founded by Emperor Taizu of Song following his usurpation of the throne of the Later Zhou. The Song conquered the res ...
art. He also served in the art department of many films, either as a set designer or storyboard artist, such as ''
Rebel Without a Cause
''Rebel Without a Cause'' is a 1955 American coming-of-age drama film about emotionally confused suburban
A suburb (more broadly suburban area) is an area within a metropolitan area, which may include commercial and mixed-use, that ...
'' (1955), ''
Around the World in 80 Days
''Around the World in Eighty Days'' (french: link=no, Le tour du monde en quatre-vingts jours) is an adventure novel by the French writer Jules Verne, first published in French in 1872. In the story, Phileas Fogg of London and his newly employ ...
'' (1956), ''
Rio Bravo'' (1959), ''
The Music Man
''The Music Man'' is a musical with book, music, and lyrics by Meredith Willson, based on a story by Willson and Franklin Lacey. The plot concerns con man Harold Hill, who poses as a boys' band organizer and leader and sells band instruments ...
'' (1962), ''
PT 109
''PT-109'' was an 80' Elco PT boat (patrol torpedo boat) last commanded by Lieutenant (junior grade) John F. Kennedy, future United States president, in the Solomon Islands campaign of the Pacific theater during World War II. Kennedy's a ...
'' (1963), ''
The Great Race
''The Great Race'' is a 1965 American Technicolor slapstick comedy film starring Jack Lemmon, Tony Curtis, and Natalie Wood, directed by Blake Edwards, written by Arthur A. Ross (from a story by Edwards and Ross), and with music by Henry Mancin ...
'' (1965), ''
The Green Berets'' (1968), and ''
The Wild Bunch
''The Wild Bunch'' is a 1969 American epic Revisionist Western film directed by Sam Peckinpah and starring William Holden, Ernest Borgnine, Robert Ryan, Edmond O'Brien, Ben Johnson and Warren Oates. The plot concerns an aging outlaw gang on th ...
'' (1969), among others.
Wong retired from the film industry in the late 1960s, but continued his work as an artist, spending most of his time designing kites. He also continued to paint, sketch, and design ceramics well into his 90s. He was the subject of the 2015 documentary film, ''
Tyrus'', by filmmaker
Pamela Tom. Wong died on December 30, 2016, at the age of 106.
Early life
On October 25, 1910, Wong was born as Wong Gen Yeo, in
Toisan, Kwangtung, China. Wong's father was "Ben" Sy Po Wong (1871-1935). Wong's mother was Lee See.
On December 30, 1919, Wong and his father boarded the ship S.S. China and sailed to California, U.S.
In 1920, when he was nine years old, Wong and his father immigrated to the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...
, and never again came into contact with his mother and sister.
Wong was initially held at the
Angel Island Immigration Station
Angel Island Immigration Station was an immigration station in San Francisco Bay which operated from January 21, 1910 to November 5, 1940, where immigrants entering the United States were detained and interrogated. Angel Island is an island in ...
, due to the
Chinese Exclusion Act
The Chinese Exclusion Act was a United States federal law signed by President Chester A. Arthur on May 6, 1882, prohibiting all immigration of Chinese laborers for 10 years. The law excluded merchants, teachers, students, travelers, and diplo ...
. There he was separated from his father while he waited to be questioned about his identity. Because most Chinese immigration was prohibited under the Chinese Exclusion Act, Wong and his father had to immigrate illegally under assumed identities as "
paper sons" of Chinese American sponsors. Wong's
paper son name was Look Tai Yow.
He did not gain American citizenship until 1946, after the repeal of the Exclusion Act. After a month, Wong was released from Angel Island. Wong and his father initially relocated to
Sacramento
)
, image_map = Sacramento County California Incorporated and Unincorporated areas Sacramento Highlighted.svg
, mapsize = 250x200px
, map_caption = Location within Sacramento ...
. Wong and his father later moved the family to
Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the wor ...
.
Wong's art was encouraged by his father who had him practice calligraphy every night, since they could not afford to give him an art education.
While attending Benjamin Franklin Junior High in
Pasadena
Pasadena ( ) is a city in Los Angeles County, California, northeast of downtown Los Angeles. It is the most populous city and the primary cultural center of the San Gabriel Valley. Old Pasadena is the city's original commercial district.
Its ...
, Wong's teachers noticed his artistic ability and he received a summer scholarship at the
Otis Art Institute
Otis College of Art and Design is a private art and design school in Los Angeles, California. Established in 1918, it was the city's first independent professional school of art. The main campus is located in the former IBM Aerospace headquarte ...
. Wong decided to leave junior high for a full-time
scholarship
A scholarship is a form of financial aid awarded to students for further education. Generally, scholarships are awarded based on a set of criteria such as academic merit, diversity and inclusion, athletic skill, and financial need.
Scholarsh ...
at Otis.
Wong's father survived on a more modest income, and Wong worked as a janitor at Otis College. He walked for miles to attend classes. He graduated from Otis in 1930 and began working in Hollywood. While the alumnus page gives Wong's graduation year as 1932, the introduction to
video interviewsponsored by the school refers to his attendance in 1935. As early as 1933, a Los Angeles newspaper reported that a local art gallery was presenting a one-man show by Wong featuring "monotype drawings and etchings."
Career
Wong's career ranged from working as a Hallmark greeting card designer, to being a
Warner Bros.
Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California, and a subsidiary of Warner Bros. D ...
film production illustrator (1942–1968), including drawing set designs and storyboards for several movies, and an inspirational sketch artist (1938–1941) for Disney.
It was his lush pastels that served as inspiration for ''
Bambi
''Bambi'' is a 1942 American animated drama film directed by David Hand (supervising a team of sequence directors), produced by Walt Disney and based on the 1923 book '' Bambi, a Life in the Woods'' by Austrian author and hunter Felix Sal ...
'' (1942),
where he was the lead artist of the project.
His background paintings for ''Bambi'' were inspired by Song dynasty classical Chinese paintings.
Although credited as one of several background illustrators, his full contribution to the film was largely unknown for several decades.
Shortly after finishing ''Bambi'', Wong was fired from Disney studios as a consequence of the
Disney animators' strike
The Disney animators' strike in 1941 reflected anger at inequities of pay and privileges at the non-unionized Walt Disney Productions. Walt Disney responded to the five-week strike by firing many of his animators, but was eventually pressured i ...
.
After leaving Disney, Wong worked at
Warner Brothers Studios
Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California, and a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Dis ...
for 26 years as a production illustrator.
Later, he designed popular greeting cards for
Hallmark Cards
Hallmark Cards, Inc. is a private, family-owned American company based in Kansas City, Missouri. Founded in 1910 by Joyce Hall, Hallmark is the oldest and largest manufacturer of greeting cards in the United States. In 1985, the company was aw ...
.
[ See also: ]
From the Archives
' version of the article, with photographs included; retrieved January 1, 2017. After retiring from film work in 1968, Wong turned his skills to making colorful kites (usually animals such as
pandas,
goldfish
The goldfish (''Carassius auratus'') is a freshwater fish in the family Cyprinidae of order Cypriniformes. It is commonly kept as a pet in indoor aquariums, and is one of the most popular aquarium fish. Goldfish released into the wild have b ...
, or
centipede
Centipedes (from New Latin , "hundred", and Latin , " foot") are predatory arthropods belonging to the class Chilopoda (Ancient Greek , ''kheilos'', lip, and New Latin suffix , "foot", describing the forcipules) of the subphylum Myriapoda, an ...
s). He spent his Saturdays flying his creations on the beach just north of the
Santa Monica Pier
The Santa Monica Pier is a large double-jointed pier at the foot of Colorado Avenue in Santa Monica, California, United States. It contains a small amusement park, concession stands, and areas for views and fishing.
Attractions Pacific Park
Th ...
.
[Shapiro, Ben (April 22, 2015).]
Meet the 104-Year-Old Immigrant Artist, A ‘Disney Legend,’ Whose Art Inspired ‘Bambi’
. ''The Observer''. Retrieved January 1, 2017.
Some of his well-known paintings include ''Self Portrait'' (late 1920s), ''Fire'' (1939), ''Reclining Nude'' (1940s), ''East'' (1984) and ''West'' (1984). He told an interviewer that he was a "lucky artist". Wong was featured in Mark Wexler's 2009 documentary ''
How to Live Forever'', where he discussed his daily lifestyle and his view on mortality, and in
Pamela Tom's 2015 documentary ''Tyrus''.
Awards
In 2001, Wong was given a History makers Award (arts) by the
Chinese American Museum
The Chinese American Museum (Chinese: 華美 博物館; abbreviated CAM) is a museum located in Downtown Los Angeles as a part of the El Pueblo de Los Angeles Historic Monument. It is dedicated to the history and experience of Chinese America ...
and was inducted as a
Disney Legend
The Disney Legends Awards is a Hall of Fame program that recognizes individuals who have made an extraordinary and integral contribution to The Walt Disney Company. Established in 1987, the honor was traditionally awarded annually during a spec ...
.
In 2005, Wong received the
Winsor McCay Award
The Winsor McCay Award is given to individuals in recognition of lifetime or career contributions to the art of animation in producing, directing, animating, design, writing, voice acting, sound and sound effects, technical work, music, professio ...
at the 33rd Annual
Annie Awards
The Annie Awards are accolades which the Los Angeles branch of the International Animated Film Association, ASIFA-Hollywood, has presented each year since 1972 to recognize excellence in animation shown in cinema and television. Originally d ...
.
In 2015, he was given a Lifetime Achievement Award by the
San Diego Asian Film Festival
The San Diego Asian Film Festival (SDAFF) is an annual event organized by Pacific Arts Movement (formerly the San Diego Asian Film Foundation) that takes place every November in San Diego, California.
Background
SDAFF is the flagship event for t ...
.
Exhibitions
The first solo exhibition of Wong's artwork, "Mid-Century Mandarin: The Clay Canvasses of Tyrus Wong," curated by Bill Stern, was organized by the Museum of California Design. It focused on his paintings on dinnerware for Winfield China of Pasadena, California, in the 1940s and 50s, and was presented at
Craft and Folk Art Museum
Craft Contemporary, formerly the Craft and Folk Art Museum, is a non-profit, non-collecting arts museum dedicated to showcasing contemporary craft in Los Angeles, California. The museum is located on Los Angeles' Museum Row on Wilshire Boulevard, ...
(CAFAM) in Los Angeles, July 14 through October 31, 2004.
The ''Tyrus Wong: A Retrospective'' exhibit at the Chinese American Museum in Los Angeles, California showcased his work in October–December 2004. According to the museum:
This exhibit showcased the works of Tyrus Wong, who at the age of 93, is one of the earliest and most influential Chinese American artists in the United States. In his long, pioneering career as a local artist, Wong is a seasoned painter, muralist, ceramicist, lithographer, designer, and kite maker. The exhibit also featured Wong's imaginative kites, which he has been building and flying for the past 30 years. Drawn from public and private collections, several of the pieces chosen for this exhibition have not been shown publicly since the 1930s.
In 2007, Wong was one of three illustrators featured in ''The Art of the Motion Picture Illustrator: William B. Major, Harold Michelson and Tyrus Wong'', an exhibit in the
Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS, often pronounced ; also known as simply the Academy or the Motion Picture Academy) is a professional honorary organization with the stated goal of advancing the arts and sciences of motion ...
's Grand Lobby Gallery in
Beverly Hills
Beverly Hills is a city located in Los Angeles County, California. A notable and historic suburb of Greater Los Angeles, it is in a wealthy area immediately southwest of the Hollywood Hills, approximately northwest of downtown Los Angeles. ...
.
Tyrus Wong is one of the founders of the otherwise all Black artists collective Eleven Associated Artists (later Art West Association). The short lived Los Angeles artists co-op included Wong and African American contemporaries
Beulah Woodard,
Alice Taylor Gafford and
William Pajaud.
Wong's work was featured in "Now Dig This!: Art and Black Los Angeles 1960–1980" an exhibition at the
Hammer Museum, October 2011 – January 2012. The exhibition explored the work of African American art pioneers and the multicultural friendships and collaborations that helped define Los Angeles art and creative communities of the period.
His work was also included in the ''Round the Clock: Chinese American Artists Working in Los Angeles'' exhibit at the
East Los Angeles College
East Los Angeles College (ELAC) is a public community college in Monterey Park, California, a suburb of Los Angeles. It is part of the California Community Colleges System and the Los Angeles Community College District. With fourteen communitie ...
Vincent Price
Vincent Leonard Price Jr. (May 27, 1911 – October 25, 1993) was an American actor, art historian, art collector and gourmet cook. He appeared on stage, television, and radio, and in more than 100 films. Price has two stars on the Hollywood Wa ...
Art Museum, January–May 2012.
From August 2013 through February 2014, Wong's work was exhibited at
The Walt Disney Family Museum
The Walt Disney Family Museum (WDFM) is an American museum that features the life and legacy of Walt Disney. The museum is located in The Presidio of San Francisco, part of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area in San Francisco. The museum r ...
in San Francisco, California in a career retrospective entitled: ''Water to Paper, Paint to Sky: The Art Of Tyrus Wong''. A hardcover book was published by the Walt Disney Family Foundation Press in conjunction with the exhibit.
In 2015, Wong was featured in an eight-decade career retrospective, ''Water to Paper, Paint to Sky: The Art of Tyrus Wong'', at the
Museum of Chinese in America
The Museum of Chinese in America (; abbreviated MOCA) is a museum in New York City which exhibits Chinese American history. It is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) education and cultural institution that presents the living history, heritage, culture, and di ...
in
Manhattan
Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five Boroughs of New York City, boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the List of co ...
,
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the U ...
.
Personal life
Wong met Ruth Ng Kim (), a second-generation Chinese American from a farming family in
Bakersfield, California, at Dragon's Den Restaurant in Los Angeles Chinatown, CA, where she was a waitress. They married on June 27, 1937, in Bakersfield, CA.
Wong's wife was the secretary to
Y.C. Hong, the first Chinese American immigration lawyer, and then became a homemaker after the birth of their children. They have three married daughters: Kay (born 1938), Tai-Ling (born 1943), and Kim (born 1949) and two grandsons, Kevin Fong and Jason Fong. Wong's wife, Ruth Kim Wong, died on January 12, 1995. She was 85. Wong died on December 30, 2016, at the age of 106.
Wong is interred at
Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Hollywood Hills)
Forest Lawn Memorial Park – Hollywood Hills is one of the six Forest Lawn cemeteries in Southern California. It is located at 6300 Forest Lawn Drive, Los Angeles, California 90068, in the Hollywood Hills neighborhood of Los Angeles.
Hist ...
in
Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the wor ...
, California.
Legacy
In 2015, filmmaker
Pamela Tom wrote and directed a film about Tyrus Wong's life, entitled ''
Tyrus''. The film was produced by Gwen Wynne, Tamara Khalaf and Pamela Tom. The film ended up winning Audience Awards at the 2016
Boston Asian American Film Festival as well as the 2015
Hawaii International Film Festival
The Hawai'i International Film Festival (HIFF) is an annual film festival held in the United States state of Hawaii.
HIFF has a focus on Asian-Pacific cinema, education, and the work of new and emerging filmmakers. HIFF’s primary festival is h ...
and the 2015
San Diego Asian Film Festival
The San Diego Asian Film Festival (SDAFF) is an annual event organized by Pacific Arts Movement (formerly the San Diego Asian Film Foundation) that takes place every November in San Diego, California.
Background
SDAFF is the flagship event for t ...
. The film had its national broadcast on PBS's American Masters on September 8, 2017.
On Feb 1, 2017, Wong was honored by Congressman
Adam Schiff
Adam Bennett Schiff (born June 22, 1960) is an American lawyer, author, and politician who has served as a U.S. representative since 2001. A member of the Democratic Party, he has represented since 2013.
Schiff's district (numbered as the ...
with a remembrance on the floor of the
115th United States Congress
The 115th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States of America federal government, composed of the Senate and the House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C., from January 3, 2017, to January ...
with Schiff's remarks read into the Congressional Record.
On his would-be 108th birthday on October 25, 2018, Tyrus Wong's life and legacy were honored by an animated
Google Doodle
A Google Doodle is a special, temporary alteration of the logo on Google's homepages intended to commemorate holidays, events, achievements, and notable historical figures. The first Google Doodle honored the 1998 edition of the long-running ...
.
Major works
Paintings
* Deer on Cliff, 1960s
* The Cove, 1960s
* Imaginary Landscape #1 and #2, 1955
Ceramics
* Winfield Pottery – Tyrus Wong Iris plate.
* Winfield Pottery – Tyrus Wong California Pink HP flower.
Filmography
* ''
Bambi
''Bambi'' is a 1942 American animated drama film directed by David Hand (supervising a team of sequence directors), produced by Walt Disney and based on the 1923 book '' Bambi, a Life in the Woods'' by Austrian author and hunter Felix Sal ...
'' (1942) – Animation Department. Animation backgrounds.
* ''
Around the World in Eighty Days
''Around the World in Eighty Days'' (french: link=no, Le tour du monde en quatre-vingts jours) is an adventure novel by the French writer Jules Verne, first published in French in 1872. In the story, Phileas Fogg of London and his newly employe ...
'' (1956) – 1. Art Department. Assistant Art Director. 2. Miscellaneous Crew. Technical advisor.
* ''
How to Live Forever'' (2009) – Documentary about secrets of long life. Himself.
* ''When the World Breaks'' (2010) – Documentary. Himself.
* ''Angel Island Profiles: Tyrus Wong'' (2011) – Documentary about himself at age 100.
* ''
Tyrus'' (2015) – Documentary about himself.
Lithographs drawn and published at Lynton R. Kistler's Lithography Studio
[1930s> ref:Tobey C. Moss Gallery>
Large Horse
Horse Looking Up
Horse Looking Down
Horse Looking Left
Horse Looking Right
New Fallen Snow/Deer in the Forest
Blind Pencil Seller
]
See also
* List of centenarians (artists)
References
External links
A Profile of Tyrus Wong
by Rosalind Chang. Angel Island Immigration Station Foundation.
*
Tyrus the Movie
Documentary of Tyrus Wong's life and career.
*
Tyrus Wong at Otis.edu
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wong, Tyrus
1910 births
2016 deaths
American animators
American artists of Chinese descent
American centenarians
American ceramists
American muralists
American illustrators
20th-century American painters
20th-century male artists
American male painters
21st-century American painters
21st-century male artists
American potters
Background artists
Chinatown, Los Angeles
Chinese animators
Chinese centenarians
Chinese emigrants to the United States
Chinese illustrators
Walt Disney Animation Studios people
Otis College of Art and Design alumni
People from Taishan, Guangdong
Painters from Guangdong
Burials at Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Hollywood Hills)
21st-century ceramists
Hallmark Cards artists
Annie Award winners
Men centenarians