Black Velvet Trilogy

3 books

1. Tyree: Artist of the South Pacific - Ralph Burke Tyree was an American artist of the mid-twentieth century who had a prolific career painting scenes from the South Pacific.His love of the islands was sparked by a WWII Marine posted to Samoa where he became the resident Marine-base artist. After the war, he split his years between California and the Pacific, capturing the quiet exoticism of the island people and the landscapes in oil on board and black velvet.He was one of the premier artists of the Tiki culture movement that swept the United States in the 1960s.
2. Leeteg: Babes, Bars, Beaches, and Black Velvet Art - The sensational story of Leeteg, a black velvet artist and party man of Tahiti, painted nude vahines in his tropical paradise Villa Velour on the Island of Moorea, 1933-1953. The “American Gauguin”, Edgar Leeteg, left California in 1932, with a few paintbrushes, bound for the South Pacific. He was the original “Tiki Man” who started the black velvet painting craze linked to South Pacific-themed restaurants. His home in Tahiti allowed him to paint nudes, drink, and party with sensual babes at Quinn’s Bar in Papeete, Tahiti.He became one of the wealthiest and most famous artists in the first half of the 20th century. He was the Father of Black Velvet Art and the genesis of a genre that has continued today with Polynesian Pop Art and the Tiki Revolution. This is a story of a most memorable rascal from the South Pacific.
3. Beauty in the Beast: Flora, Fauna, and Endangered Species of Artist Ralph Burke Tyree - Ralph Burke Tyree was a prolific artist who helped popularize Polynesian art in the 20th century. Beauty in the Beast is the story of Tyree’s creative genius in painting flora and fauna, including colorful and exotic animals from around the world, many of which are endangered species.Published to mark the 50th Anniversary of the Endangered Species Act of 1973, Beauty in the Beast explores the works of the last ten years of Tyree’s life when animals became his focus. Some endangered species covered are the pangolin, cotton-top tamarin, ornate Hawk-eagle, dwarf lemur, red panda, slow loris, and several big cats, including tigers, lions, and leopards.A tribute to the artistic brilliance of Ralph Burke Tyree and the animals and plants of our planet, Beauty in the Beast begins with a quote by Albert Einstein that evokes one of the greatest challenges of our time: “Our task must be to free ourselves by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature and its beauty.”Plus free shipping