Background artist : the life and work of Tyrus Wong / Karen Fang.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Fang, Karen, 1973- author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Artists--United States--Biography.

Artists.

Chinese American artists--Biography.

Chinese American artists.

Wong, Tyrus.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (536 pages)

Edition:

First edition.

Place of Publication:

New Brunswick, NJ : Rutgers University Press, [2025]

Summary:

You might not know the name Tyrus Wong, but you probably know some of the images he created, including scenes from the beloved Disney classic Bambi. Yet when he came to this country as a child, Tyrus was an illegal immigrant locked up in an offshore detention center. How did he go on to a long and prosperous career drawing animation cels, storyboards, and greeting cards that shaped the American imagination? Background Artist shares the inspiring story of Tyrus Wong’s remarkable 106-year life and showcases his wide array of creative work, from the paintings and fine art prints he made working for Roosevelt’s Works Progress Administration to the unique handmade kites he designed and flew on the Santa Monica beach. It tells how he came to the United States as a ten-year-old boy in 1920, at a time when the Chinese Exclusion Act barred him from legal citizenship. Yet it also shows how Wong found American communities that welcomed him and nurtured his artistic talent. Covering everything from his work as a studio sketch artist for Warner Bros. to the best-selling Christmas cards he designed for Hallmark and other greeting card companies, this book celebrates a multitalented Asian American artist and pioneer.

Contents:

Cover

Praise for Background Artist

Title Page

Copyright

Dedication

Contents

Prologue

Note on Names and Translations

Part I. Not Just a Paper Son

1. Not Too Far from Alcatraz...

2. SS China

3. Paper Son

4. Look Get/Wong Sai Po

5. Angel Island, Devil's House

6. Alien, Excluded from Citizenship

Part II. Becoming Tyrus

7. Boy Scouts, Baseball, and Apple Pie

8. Playing Hooky

9. "That City of Celestials

10. "You Don't Want to Paint This Shit

11. The Otis Years

12. "An Outstanding Student Who Warrants Reentry

13. Dragon's Den, Artists' Lair

Part III. Profession: Artist

14. Ruth

15. Thank God for the WPA!

16. A Family Blooms on Juanita Avenue

17. Man of the Forest

18. War ("I Am Chinese")

19. "Be a Good Boy

Color Plates

Part IV. China's Greatest Gift to Western Culture

20. On the Warner Lot

21. Sunland, or Art of the Pacific

22. Model Minority?

23. America's Favorite Card Designer

Part V. Always Look Up

24. Go Fly a Kite

25. Faan heang haa (The Return)

26. An Empty Place in the Sky

27. Legend

28. A Well-Lived Life

Coda

Acknowledgments

Notes

Bibliography

Index

About the Author.

Notes:

Description based on publisher supplied metadata and other sources.

Description based on print version record.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

1-9788-3842-5

1-9788-3843-3

OCLC:

1451806054