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A photo of Dong Kingman

Dong Kingman 1911 - 2000

Dong Kingman of San Francisco County, California United States was born on March 31, 1911 in Oakland, and was the father of Dong Kingman, Jr.. Dong Kingman died at age 89 years old on May 12, 2000 in New York, NY.

Dong Kingman
Dong Moy Shu (Birth Name), Dong Moy Shu (Birth Name)
Name
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San Francisco County, California United States
Last residence
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March 31, 1911
Oakland, California, United States
Birth
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May 12, 2000
New York, New York, United States
Death
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Male
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Updated: February 9, 2021
Biography ID: 158644926 What's this
Dong Kingman Dong Kingman (1911 - 2000)
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Dong Kingman's History: 1911 - 2000

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  • Introduction

    Dong Kingman From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Dong Kingman (Chinese: 曾景文, 31 March 1911 – 12 May 2000) was a Chinese American artist and one of America's leading watercolor masters. As a painter on the forefront of the California Style School of painting, he was known for his urban and landscape paintings, as well as his graphic design work in the Hollywood film industry. He has won widespread critical acclaim and his works are included in over 50 public and private collections worldwide, including Metropolitan Museum of Art, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; Brooklyn Museum; deYoung Museum and Art Institute, Chicago. Dong Kingman was born Dong Moy Shu in Oakland, California, the son of Chinese immigrants from Hong Kong. At the age of five and a half, he traveled with his family back to Hong Kong, where his father established a dry goods business. He began his formal education at the Bok Jai School, where he was given a school name in accordance with Chinese customs. Hearing that he aspired to be an artist, his instructor gave him the name "King Man" (lit. "scenery" and "composition" in Cantonese). He would later combine the two names into Kingman, placing his family name first in accordance with Chinese naming conventions, creating the name Dong Kingman. Kingman continued his education at the Chan Sun Wen School, where he excelled at calligraphy and watercolor painting. He studied under Szeto Wai, the Paris-trained head of the Lingnan Academy. It was under Szeto's instruction that Kingman was first exposed to Northern European trends. Kingman would later state that Szeto was his "first and only true influence." Kingman returned to the United States in his late teens. In 1929 he attended the Fox Morgan Art School while holding down a variety of jobs. It was at this time that he chose to concentrate on watercolor painting. His critical breakthrough occurred in 1936, when he gained a solo exhibition at the San Francisco Art Association. This exhibition brought him national recognition and success. In the late 1930s, Kingman served as an artist in the Works Progress Administration, painting over 300 works with the relief program. In 1942 and 1944, Kingman received the Guggenheim Fellowship. During World War II, he was drafted into the U.S. Army, but was transferred to work as a map artist in the Office of Strategic Services at Camp Beal, California and Washington, D.C, by a fan of his work, Eleanor Roosevelt. Kingman settled in Brooklyn, New York after the war, where he held a position as an art instructor at Columbia University and Hunter College from 1946 for the next ten years. In New York he was associated with Midtown, Wildenstein and Hammer galleries. Kingman had married Janice Wong in 1926. She died in 1954 and he married the writer Helena Kuo in 1956. Kuo died in 1999. During the 1950s, Kingman served as a United States cultural ambassador and international lecturer for the Department of State. In the 1950s and 1960s, Kingman worked as an illustrator in the film industry, designing the backgrounds for a number of major motion pictures including "55 Days at Peking", The Sand Pebbles and the Hollywood adaptation of "Flower Drum Song". Over 300 of his film-related works are permanently housed at the Fairbanks Center for Motion Picture Study at the Margaret Herrick Library of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in Beverly Hills, California. In 1981, Kingman made history as the first American artist to be featured in a solo exhibition following the resumption of diplomatic relations between the U.S. and China when the Ministry of Culture of the People's Republic of China hosted a critically acclaimed exhibition that drew over 100,000 people. The 1990s saw major exhibitions in Taiwan at the Taipei Modern Art Museum in 1995 and the Taichung Provincial Museum in 1999. Dong Kingman died of pancreatic cancer in his home in New York City in 2000, at age 89. Documentary[edit] The 2011 Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival featured a unique interactive presentation of James Wong Howe's 1953 Dong Kingman film documentary.[5] Partial list of awards and honors[edit] San Francisco Art Association First Purchase Prize, 1936. Chicago Art Institute International Watercolor Exhibition Award, 1941. Guggenheim Fellowships, 1941 and 1942. Audubon Artists Medal of Honor, 1946. National Academy of Design, elected associate 1946. Received academy competition awards in 1963, 1971, 1975, 1977, including the 150th Anniversary Gold Medal Award. Philadelphia Watercolor Club competition awards, 1950 and 1968. American Watercolor Society competition awards, 1956, 1960, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1967, 1972, 1973, 1976, 1977, 1979, 1986, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1993, 1995 and 1997. American Watercolor Society Dolphin Medal Award, 1987. Metropolitan Museum of Art Award, 1953. Pennsylvania Academy of Art Award, 1953. U.S. Department of State International Cultural Exchange, 1954. Audubon Artists Award, 1958. San Diego Art Gallery Award, 1968 Detroit Museum Award Academy of Art College San Francisco Honorary Doctorate for Human Letters, 1987.
  • 03/31
    1911

    Birthday

    March 31, 1911
    Birthdate
    Oakland, California United States
    Birthplace
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  • Ethnicity & Family History

    Chinese, American born.

  • Nationality & Locations

    American born.

  • Early Life & Education

    Postgraduate

  • Military Service

    Military serial#: 39429282 Enlisted: January 6, 1945 in San Francisco California Military branch: No Branch Assignment Rank: Private, Selectees (enlisted Men) Terms of enlistment: Enlistment For The Duration Of The War Or Other Emergency, Plus Six Months, Subject To The Discretion Of The President Or Otherwise According To Law During World War II, he was drafted into the U.S. Army, but was transferred to work as a map artist in the Office of Strategic Services at Camp Beal, California and Washington, D.C, by a fan of his work, Eleanor Roosevelt.

  • Professional Career

    Commercial Artist. Illustrator. Painter.

  • Personal Life & Family

    He did beautiful graphics for the film, "Flower Drum Song."
  • 05/12
    2000

    Death

    May 12, 2000
    Death date
    Pancreatic cancer
    Cause of death
    New York, New York United States
    Death location
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19 Memories, Stories & Photos about Dong

Dong Kingman Jr. and Tony Bennett
Photo of Amanda S. Stevenson Amanda S. Stevenson
17.8k+ favorites
10/08/2017
Dong Kingman Jr. and Tony Bennett
A photo of Dong Kingman and singer Tony Bennett, who is also an artist.
Date & Place: Not specified or unknown.
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Dong Kingman Art
Photo of Amanda S. Stevenson Amanda S. Stevenson
17.8k+ favorites
12/28/2019
Dong Kingman Art
A painting by William Saroyan's friend, Dong Kingman.
Dong Kingman, Jr.: "My dad and Saroyan became good friends at the Black Cat café , a bohemian hangout in San Francisco. Saroyan wrote a wonderful book introduction to “Dong Kingman and How the artist works”, published 1958." Tribute to Dong Kingman also by me.
Date & Place: in San Francisco, San Francisco County, California United States
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Dong Kingman's painting
Photo of Amanda S. Stevenson Amanda S. Stevenson
17.8k+ favorites
10/07/2017
Dong Kingman's painting
A photo of Dong Kingman's famous watercolor, 55 Days at Peking..
Date & Place: Not specified or unknown.
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Dong Kingman
Photo of Amanda S. Stevenson Amanda S. Stevenson
17.8k+ favorites
10/06/2017
Dong Kingman
A photo of Dong Kingman
Date & Place: Not specified or unknown.
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Dong Kingman, Central Park
Photo of Amanda S. Stevenson Amanda S. Stevenson
17.8k+ favorites
10/06/2017
Dong Kingman, Central Park
A photo of Dong Kingman who would picnic in the park with Silas Seadler and his friends. This was in a book by Earl Wilson.
Date & Place: Not specified or unknown.
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Dong Kingman and Samuel Bronston
Photo of Amanda S. Stevenson Amanda S. Stevenson
17.8k+ favorites
10/06/2017
Dong Kingman and Samuel Bronston
A photo of Dong Kingman discussing his many artworks for the movie, "55 Days at Peking" with producer Samuel Bronston
Date & Place: Not specified or unknown.
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Dong Kingman
Photo of Amanda S. Stevenson Amanda S. Stevenson
17.8k+ favorites
10/06/2017
Dong Kingman
A photo of Dong Kingman
Date & Place: Not specified or unknown.
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Dong Kingman
Photo of Amanda S. Stevenson Amanda S. Stevenson
17.8k+ favorites
10/06/2017
Dong Kingman
A photo of Dong Kingman
Date & Place: Not specified or unknown.
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Dong Kingman
Photo of Amanda S. Stevenson Amanda S. Stevenson
17.8k+ favorites
10/06/2017
Dong Kingman
A photo of Dong Kingman
Date & Place: Not specified or unknown.
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Dong Kingman
Photo of Amanda S. Stevenson Amanda S. Stevenson
17.8k+ favorites
10/06/2017
Dong Kingman
A photo of Dong Kingman
Date & Place: Not specified or unknown.
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Dong Kingman's Family Tree & Friends

Dong Kingman's Family Tree

Parent
Parent
Dong Kingman
Dong Kingman Mar 31, 1911 - May 12, 2000
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Dong Kingman

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Dong Kingman
Dong Kingman Mar 31, 1911 - May 12, 2000
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Child
Dong Kingman, Jr.
Dong Kingman, Jr. Jun 16, 1936 - Feb 4, 1955
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Friendships

Dong's Friends

Friends of Dong Friends can be as close as family. Add Dong's family friends, and his friends from childhood through adulthood.
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3 Followers & Sources

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Other Biographies

Other Dong Kingman Biographies

Kingman, Dong (Jun 16, 1936 - Feb 4, 1955)

Other Kingman Family Biographies

Kingman, Harry (May 13, 1881 - Jul 1968) Kingman, Elmer (Feb 20, 1890 - May 1970) Kingman, Jane (Jun 13, 1904 - Dec 4, 1993) Kingman, John (May 8, 1904 - Apr 1970) Kingman, Marjorie (Jul 27, 1891 - Sep 1986) Kingman, Michelle (May 20, 1968 - May 15, 2011) Kingman, Carroll (Nov 2, 1910 - Oct 18, 1989) Kingman, Harry (Feb 29, 1920 - May 4, 2007) Kingman, Edward (May 19, 1925 - Oct 7, 2004) Kingman, Edna (Mar 18, 1888 - Mar 1977)
Kingman, Arthur (Jan 26, 1890 - Nov 1968) Kingman, Susannah (Oct 9, 1877 - Apr 15, 1971) Kingman, Raymond (Aug 11, 1912 - Dec 1985) Kingman, Colleen (Jan 11, 1937 - Nov 16, 2001) Kingman, Margaret (Mar 13, 1923 - Sep 25, 1988) Kingman, Harry (Nov 20, 1885 - Feb 1973) Kingman, Ethel (Nov 2, 1889 - Apr 1974) Kingman, Gladys (Sep 25, 1899 - Feb 1979) Kingman, Elsie (Aug 21, 1887 - May 1976) Kingman, Harriet (Aug 6, 1908 - Nov 13, 1999)
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