Beauty In the Beast: Flora, Fauna, and Endangered Species of Artist Ralph Burke Tyree

Beauty In the Beast: Flora, Fauna, and Endangered Species of Artist Ralph Burke Tyree

by CJ Cook and Paige Herbert

Beauty in the Beast is the story of Tyree’s creative genius in painting flora, fauna, and endangered species. Ralph Burke Tyree was a prolific artist of the twentieth century. After growing up in California’s Central Valley, Tyree moved to the San Francisco area for his art education. After the start of WWII, he joined the Marines and deployed to Samoa. On this South Pacific Island, Private Tyree was designated the resident artist of the Marine base.

Tyree returned to California after the war, married his high school sweetheart, Margo, started a family, and began to work as a professional artist in California and the Pacific. He depicted the idyllic beauties in beach or jungle settings with tropical flora, notably plumeria, and hibiscus, adorning the dark hair of his subjects. Initially, he primarily painted with oils on board, but in 1960, Tyree switched medium and began painting with oils on fine black velvet to add depth and texture. In 1970, endangered animals entered his repertoire. For the next decade, his primary interest was oil painting the planet’s majestic creatures on both board and velvet, bringing public awareness to their declining numbers. Sadly, he died of a heart attack at age fifty-seven in 1979.

This book explored the works of these last ten years of his life when animals became his focus. Some endangered species covered are pangolin, cotton-top tamarin, ornate hawk-eagle, dwarf lemur, red panda, slow loris, and the big cats.

Please enjoy Beauty in the Beasts of Ralph Burke Tyree.

240 Pages and 372 Figures.
ISBN: 978-0-9984224-6-6
Library of Congress Control Number:  2023908878