Leeteg Of Tahiti

A lush tropical setting, exotic models and legendary drinking bouts serve as the backdrop to the larger than life story of Edgar Leeteg. Often referred to as the American Gauguin for his idyllic rendering of the Tahitian people in the 30s, 40s and 50s, Leeteg is best known for his rediscovery and mastery of old technique of painting on velevet.

Labeled "e;Leeteg the Legend"e; by James Michener and Often Called the "e;American Gauguin"e;Edgar Leeteg was the father of black velvet art and the genesis of a genre continuing today with the tiki and Polynesian pop art movement, nearly 70 years later.Describing himself as a "e;fornicating, gin-soaked, dope-head,"e; Leeteg took on the elite of the art establishment of Honolulu Academy of Arts in 1938 and shamed them in the press. Always the shrewd promoter and a creative genius, Edgar Leeteg possessed many titles, astounding fans and antagonizing critics. His insatiable lust for life led the author James Michener to label him "e;Leeteg the Legend"e; in his book, Rascals in Paradise (1957).This is a biography of the artist Leeteg, who left California in 1933 bound for the South Pacific. His home in Tahiti allowed him to paint nudes, drink, and party with sensual vahines from the beaches to the bars of Tahiti.He was a wealthy artist and legend in his lifetime, a goal few can achieve."e;Cook's work is entertaining and knowledgeable. The breadth of its featured cast, quotes, and remembrances make this biography lively. Tahiti, its people, roistering ex-pats, and luminous landscapes vibrate like personal memories. Leeteg's landscapes appear alongside Paul Gauguin's, questions the fine and arbitrary line that separates "e;popular"e; art from work acclaimed "e;great."e; -Foreword Reviews

This book contains 275 reproductions of black velvet paintings. It traces the roots of the art form from ancient China and Japan through to Victorian England, the Pacific, Southeast Asia and the Americas.

Ralph Burke Tyree was an American artist who was the most prolific portrait artist of the South Pacific peoples of the 20th century. He was from central California and his art education took place in San Francisco. Seven weeks after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor he joined the Marines and was soon shipped off to Samoa. Private Tyree was befriended by his Commanding General and became the Marine-base artist. His portrait career began painting the officers and their loved ones, while corresponding with 10,000 word love letters to his girlfriend Margo back home in Turlock, California. After the war he began his professional career. He traveled back to the South Pacific to live for years in places such as Guam, Oahu, Maui, and the Big Island of Hawaii. Often from there he would travel to other island paradises: Palau, Fiji, Tahiti, Samoa, and the Solomon Islands over his thirty-year career. Most of his first works were sensual island wahines in island beach and jungle settings. He painted primarily with oil on board but also occasionally on canvas and with pastels. To add depth and texture, he switched in mid-career to painting with oil on fine, French silk, black velvet. This was in the midst of the 1960s' Tiki revolution and many of his nude pieces would be displayed in Tiki bars and restaurants. Tyree was likely the most prolific South Pacific and Tiki artist of the 20th century. In the 1970s, he started painting endangered animals to call attention to their limited numbers. He died suddenly of a heart attack at age fifty seven in 1979. In the 20th century after WWII, Ralph Burke Tyree led the transformation and appreciation of the South Pacific's serene beauty with his art. Furthermore he was the premier artist in American iconic movement of the Tiki revolution which emanated from Hawaii and California. He likely painted thousands of different pieces, initially oils on board, mostly wahines, au naturale. Starting in 1960 he switched to oils on black velvet with the portraiture nudity, more demure or sometimes a silhouette in a jungle scene. Tyree was a dreamer who painted idealized women in idyllic South Pacific landscapes, the faces of wizened island men and later exotic animals. His portraiture, whether of humans or animals, captured their quiet, gentle spirit.

Explores topics related to "black," examining aspects of fashion, philosophy, politics, and popular culture.

In a thrilling collection of nonfiction adventure stories, James A. Michener returns to the most dazzling place on Earth: the islands that inspired Tales of the South Pacific. Co-written with A. Grove Day, Rascals in Paradise offers portraits of ten scandalous men and women, some infamous and some overlooked, including Sam Comstock, a mutinous sailor whose delusions of grandeur became a nightmare; Will Mariner, a golden-haired youth who used his charm to win over his captors; and William Bligh, the notorious HMS Bounty captain who may not have been the monster history remembers him as. From lifelong buccaneers to lapsed noblemen, in Michener and Day’s capable hands these rogues become the stuff of legend. Praise for Rascals in Paradise “The best book about those far-scattered islands that has appeared in a long time . . . a portfolio of rare and ruthless personalities that is calculated to make the curliest hair stand straight on end.”—The New York Times “[Combines] research and scholarship (A. Grove Day was a professor at the University of Hawaii) with a gift for spinning a yarn and depicting character (Michener, journalist and novelist, needs no introduction).”—Kirkus Reviews