 Click here to see a larger version of the image above. |
Dong Kingman Old Cemetery on #2 Car Line watercolor Dong Kingman was born in 1911, in Oakland, California. His parents were originally from China. When Kingman was five years old, his parents took the family to Hong Kong. Here he studied Chinese painting and calligraphy. Later, he attended Hong Kong's Lingnan Branch School where he was taught oil painting and the work of the new school of Chinese painters. |
In 1929, he returned to Oakland, and in 1931, began to study art at the Fox and Morgan Studios. After a few lessons, Fox found Kingman's oil paintings to be inadequate. He was encouraged to return to watercolor painting.
Kingman found that it was hard to make a living during the Depression. In 1936, he left Oakland for San Francisco, where he worked as a house attendant for a wealthy family. In his spare time, Kingman painted and sketched scenes of San Francisco. By the end of the year, he held a one-man exhibition at the San Francisco Art Center. The critics raved about his work, and from this, Kingman became an established artist.
Kingman worked for the Federal Art Project (FAP) from 1936-1941, which allowed him to practice, and develop his own style. Since then, he has taught art at Columbia University and Hunter College, has had numerous exhibitions, and has become a leading watercolorist.
