Leeteg , livre ebook

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Labeled "Leeteg the Legend" by James Michener and Often Called the "American Gauguin"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 "fornicating, gin-soaked, dope-head," 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 "Leeteg the Legend" 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."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 "popular" art from work acclaimed "great." -Foreword Reviews
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Date de parution

15 juin 2021

EAN13

9780998422435

Langue

English

Poids de l'ouvrage

8 Mo

EDGAR LEETEG
Edgar Leeteg painting Coconut Drinker at his Villa Velour on Paopao Bay (Cook’s Bay) Moorea, Tahiti, circa 1947.

Jackie Nude , Edgar Leeteg, oil on velvet, 1941, courtesy of John Turner collection.
LEETEG

Babes, Bars, Beaches, and Black Velvet Art
CJ Cook
with Michael Ashley

SOUTH PACIFIC DREAMS PUBLISHING San Diego 2021
Copyright © 2021 by CJ Cook
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, without prior written permission of the publisher, South Pacific Dreams Publishing.
Published by
South Pacific Dreams Publishing
www.SouthPacificDreamsPublishing.com
Library of Congress Control Number: 2020917473
ISBN: 978-0-9984224-2-8
Interior book design by Claudine Mansour Design
Printed in South Korea by Think, Inc., El Dorado Hills, CA
To the Tahitians, lovely and loving people and to my wife, Sandy, a most lovely and loving Lady.

Tiare Tahiti by Edgar Leeteg.
Tahitian Tamure Dancer with Moorea in background, Edgar Leeteg, mural on wood wall from a Papeete bar, 72” x 72”, circa 1950, courtesy of Heath Wilkes.
Contents

Introduction
Chapter 1 THE BIRTHPLACE OF VENUS
Chapter 2 BLACK VELVET ART
Chapter 3 BILLBOARDS, TAHITI, AND THE GREAT DEPRESSION
Chapter 4 THE RASCAL IN THE SOUTH PACIFIC
Chapter 5 THE BLACK VELVET PAINTER STORMS THE ART WORLD
Chapter 6 THE WILD MAN FALLS IN LOVE
Chapter 7 THESE MOANS COULD HAVE BEEN EJACULATIONS
Chapter 8 SETTLING DOWN AND MOVING UP
Chapter 9 THE WINDS OF WAR
Chapter 10 THE BETTER HEAVEN
Chapter 11 WAR COMES TO TAHITI
Chapter 12 PAPEETE, PAINTING AND PLEASURE IN PARADISE
Chapter 13 OLD FRIENDS AND NEW
Chapter 14 STABILITY AND STARDOM
Chapter 15 BIG TIME ARTIST, BIG TIME PROBLEMS
Chapter 16 AQUARIUM, ADMIRAL, AMERICAN CLUB OF TAHITI
Chapter 17 BURNOUT, BARNEY AND BOOZE
Chapter 18 DEATH OF A LEGEND
Chapter 19 LEGACY UNDER FIRE
Chapter 20 EPILOGUE
Afterword
Acknowledgements
Time Line
References
Introduction

I purchased my first black velvet South Pacific wahine painted by Ralph Burke Tyree a dozen years ago ( wahine is the Hawaiian word for woman and vahine the Tahitian). I was immediately captivated by the beauty of the art and fascinated by the process of oil painting on velvet. After writing the biography Tyree, Artist of the South Pacific (2017), I was off to investigate the man who started it all, Edgar Leeteg. He was the first modern artist to use oils on black velvet and from an island paradise, Tahiti.
Although Leeteg died in 1953 (nearly 70 years ago), there are a plethora of stories and newspaper articles on this rascal—unlike the quiet, more reserved Tyree. What was fact? And what was fiction? I wondered.
There are three books that cover the Leeteg story. Rascals in Paradise (1957) by James A. Michener and Arthur Grove Day, saved its last chapter for Leeteg the Legend ( Chapter 11 ). The authors had but one interview with Leeteg, but through his Honolulu agent, Bernard “Barney” Davis, and his patron, Wayne Decker of Salt Lake City, they were able to tell his story. A dozen years later, Davis came out with his own tome, a promotional book titled Leeteg of Tahiti ( 1969), to keep Leeteg’s name in the news and sell Leeteg originals and copies through his gallery in Honolulu. The third and final book was written as a supplement for a 1999 Leeteg black velvet art exhibition (February 7–April 4, 1999) at the Huntington Beach Art Center near Los Angeles. This multi-authored book was titled Leeteg of Tahiti, by John Turner and Greg Escalante, and tried to flush out the myths and fortify the facts of this most interesting character.
Leeteg not only was the first “tiki man,” but also the originator of Polynesian pop art and oil painting on velvet, truly an original America art form. Many artists have tried to emulate Leeteg’s techniques. Most have fallen short, but some, such as Tyree, and Charles “Charlie” McPhee, have matched the originator or succeeded him. None, however, can match Leeteg the rake, the rascal, the womanizer—not even his idol Paul Gauguin.
This is a biography of the “American Gauguin,” artist Edgar Leeteg, who left California in 1933 with a few paint brushes and oils bound for the South Pacific. He 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 vahines from the beaches to the bars of Tahiti, the birthplace of the Venus, goddess of love.
He described himself as a “fornicating, gin-soaked, dope head” and all the artists and writers of the South Pacific knew of him. He took on the elite of the art establishment of Honolulu Academy of Arts in 1938 and shamed them in the press. He painted murals in fine establishments in Honolulu and in Tahiti and sheltered himself and his family on the neighboring island of Moorea. However, his self-promotional activities and drinking bouts in the bars of Papeete, especially Quinn’s Tahitian Hut, made him a most famous scoundrel in the South Seas. He was wealthy and well-known in his lifetime. Tourists visiting Tahiti would seek him out for his generosity of wine, women, and song on his Shangri-la-like estate called Villa Velour on quiet Moorea.
His many artist and author friends included Charles S. Marek, Henry Christian, Robert Lee Eskridge, Robert Dean Frisbie, Willis Shook, Don Blanding, and Mutiny on the Bounty authors James Norman Hall and Charles Nordhoff. All of these luminaries helped secure his place in art history. He was the father of black velvet art and the genesis of a genre continuing today with the tiki revolution and Polynesian pop art movement, nearly 70 years later. I am indebted to my coauthor Michael Ashley whose writing skills have made the Leeteg story a most interesting tale, as I hope you will agree.
—CJ C OOK
Likewise, I am indebted to CJ Cook for bringing me onto this fun and fascinating project. In addition to his passion for this subject, CJ brings a wealth of knowledge and insight that will both charm and intrigue the reader. (At least he did those things when making me aware of Edgar Leeteg’s story.)
Prior to connecting with CJ, I held an interest in this part of the world from reading Farther Than Any Man: The Rise and Fall of Captain James Cook , by Martin Dugard. Dugard opened my eyes to the complex history of this region and its beauty. Before this, I found myself wondering about its allure from Marlon Brando’s autobiography describing many of the same places with childlike wonder.
Whether we are talking about Brando, Cook, or Leeteg, a common thread runs through our discussion. These men—as well as countless others—felt a sense of awe when encountering this magical part of the world. Much like a religious convert comes to his/her beliefs through a mystical experience, they found profound experiences here. Afterward, they could never return home to lives reinforcing banality—not after the South Pacific opened their eyes to what’s possible in this life.
Beyond the land and its majesty, there was a more personal draw to this material: the larger-thanlife Leeteg. I have always been intrigued by artists who don’t just create works challenging convention but live out their truths as works of art in their own right. Growing up, my heroes were Jim Morrison, Norman Mailer, and Jack Kerouac.
Anyone familiar with Kerouac knows of his fascination with individuals possessing big personalities. It’s exemplified by this passage from my favorite book, On the Road : “The only people for me are the mad ones, the ones who are mad to live, mad to talk, mad to be saved, desirous of everything at the same time, the ones who never yawn or a saw a commonplace thing, but burn, burn, burn like fabulous yellow roman candles exploding like spiders across the stars.”
As you read the following, you will see Leeteg explode like a star off the page. Or, to quote another literary giant, Dylan Thomas, Leeteg didn’t go “gently into that good night.” Instead, he raged against it: drinking, brawling, painting, loving—transforming his existence into an art form—beautiful and thrilling—for a brief speck before extinguishing into the mists of time.
Yet the act of writing, like painting, offers the promise of immortality. Our lives may be fleeting but the art we create lives on as long as it’s preserved, as long as it’s documented for the next generation. True, Leeteg’s world couldn’t be further from our own less than a century later—and Leeteg himself would struggle for acceptance in our P.C. culture. But these factors shouldn’t disqualify his art—or his person—from our inquiry.
Instead, we should study his times and the man, seeking to understand why his star once burned so bright. Likewise, instead of viewing Leeteg as a relic of some unenlightened period, we should ask ourselves, what can this genius still teach us about what it means to create and fearlessly love?
Death will come for us all one day. What we do in the intervening spaces composes our legacy. Our gift to posterity. When we look back at Leeteg, we encounter our own reflection, forcing us to reckon with our existence. When this occurs, a question leaps at us: Did we live as much as we could?
When it comes to Leeteg, we know the answer.
—M ICHAEL A SHLEY
LEETEG
Figure 1.1 Tiuni , Edgar Leeteg, oil on velvet, 1946, private collection.

CHAPTER 1

The Birthplace of Venus

“The first experience can never be repeated. The first love, the first sunrise, the first South Sea island, are memories apart and touch a virginity of sense.”
— ROBERT LOUIS STEVENSON , in a letter to Sidney Colvin (1924)
It was three in the afternoon when a short, stocky fellow in his mid-thirties eased open two Westernstyle batwing doors, striding into the wharf side bar known as Quinn’s. The visitor had a full, heavy-set face, grey-blue eyes, and a high forehead crowned by a thicket of curly bl

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