Tyrus Wong: A Retrospective


Tyrus Wong, Self Portrait, 14 1/2 ” x 21 3/8″, late 1920s, watercolor on paper.
Chinese American Museum, gift of Sanora Babb Howe

December 18, 2003 – October 17, 2004

This exhibition showcased the works of Tyrus Wong, who at the age of 93, is one of the earliest and most influential Chinese American artists in the United States. In his long, pioneering career as a local artist, Wong is a seasoned painter, muralist, ceramicist, lithographer, designer, and kite maker. This exhibition also featured Wong’s imaginative kites, which he has been building and flying for the past 30 years. Drawn from public and private collections, several of the pieces chosen for this exhibition have not been shown publicly since the 1930s.