Archives of American Art

Oral history interview with Tyrus Wong

Summary

Collection ID:
AAA.wong65
Creators:
Wong, Tyrus
McGlynn, Betty Hoag
New Deal and the Arts Oral History Project
Dates:
1965 January 30
Languages:
English
.
Physical Description:
28 Pages
Transcript
Repository:

Scope and Contents

Scope and Contents
An interview of Tyrus Wong conducted 1965 January 30, by Betty Hoag, for the Archives of American Art.
Scope and Contents
Wong discusses making a film for grade schools and UCLA, which was produced by Eliot O'Hara, where he demonstrated Oriental painting techniques and Joe Jones demonstrated American techniques; working as an illustrator for Republic Studio; designing pottery plates for Greenfield Pottery, Gabriel Pottery in Pasadena; illustrations for the Western Art Review magazine; covers for the Los Angeles Times Home Section 1954 & 1955; text and illustrations for Watercolor Portraits, 1949; designing ads for various magazines; and doing watercolors, lithographs, and murals for the WPA, including the Santa Monica Library. Wong recalls Surasawa, Dorothy Jeakins, Nick Berganti, Hideo Dati, Benjy Ocobo, Carl Winter, Stanton Macdonald-Wright, Jerre Murry, Steven LaVerne Dunwell, George Stanley, Gordon Newell, and Frank Buck.

Biographical / Historical

Biographical / Historical
Tyrus Wong (1910-2016) was a Chinese American painter, designer, illustrator, and printmaker based in California.

Administration

Immediate Source of Acquisition
Conducted as part of the Archives of American Art's New Deal and the Arts project, which includes over 400 interviews of artists, administrators, historians, and others involved with the federal government's art programs and the activities of the Farm Security Administration in the 1930s and early 1940s.

Digital Content


Using the Collection

Conditions Governing Access
Transcript available on the Archives of American Art website.

More Information

General

General
Originally recorded on 1 sound tape reel. Reformatted in 2010 as 2 digital wav files. Duration is 48 min.
General
Only the second half of this interview was successfully recorded.


Keywords

Keywords table of terms and types.
Keyword Terms Keyword Types
Sound recordings Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Interviews Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Federal aid to the arts Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Painting, Asian Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Chinese American art Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Chinese American artists Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Asian American art Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Asian American artists Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Asian American painters Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Asian American illustrators Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Asian American printmakers Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Sculptors -- California Occupation Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Painters -- California Occupation Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Designers -- California Occupation Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Printmakers -- California Occupation Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Buck, Frank E. (Frank Eugene), 1889 or 90-1959 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Jeakins, Dorothy Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Jones, Joe, 1909-1963 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Macdonald-Wright, Stanton, 1890-1973 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Murry, Jerre, 1904-1973 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Newell, Gordon Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
O'Hara, Eliot, 1890-1969 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Stanley, George M., 1903- Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Winter, Carl, 1906 Jan. 10- Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
New Deal and the Arts Oral History Project Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid

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