Historic RARE 1970s African American BLACK ARTS Portrait Drawing, WYATT JR

This is an exceptional and Historic RARE 1970s African American BLACK ARTS Portrait Drawing on Paper, by the esteemed early Black Arts Movement muralist, printmaker and painter, Richard Wyatt Jr. This artwork depicts the shadowy silhouette portrait of a young African American man with an Afro hairstyle and a stoic facial expression.

The subject is shown wearing a white undershirt, with a checkered shirt over it. Hand signed and dated : Wyatt Jr. 78, in the lower right corner of the image.

Approximately 12 1/2 x 16 1/2 inches including frame. Actual visible artwork is approximately 8 1/2 x 11 1/2 inches. Good - Fair overall condition for decades of age and storage, with some faint and barely noticeable old bookworm bites in a few areas along the edges please see all photos very carefully.

This item was acquired from the contents of the long - defunct Gallery/Tanner in Los Angeles, California, which was founded by African American fine artist and luminary, Samella Lewis 1923 - 2022. I acquired the entire remaining contents of this closed down and important early Los Angeles African American art gallery, and will be listing many more important, historic, and incredibly rare 1960's - 1970's Black Arts Movement artwork and ephemera in the days and weeks to come. S vibrant mural painting, City of Dreams/River of History graces Union Station in Los Angeles, and his original artworks are held in the permanent collections of the Crocker Art Museum, Farhat Art Museum Collection, and in numerous private collections nationwide.

If you like what you see, I encourage you to make an Offer. Please check out my other listings for more wonderful and unique artworks!

Richard Wyatt, Jr (Born 1955) is active/lives in California. Richard Wyatt Jr is known for Drawing, painting, murals. (1955-) He was born in Lynwood, California in 1955 and has been a presence in the Los Angeles art scene since he was twelve years old when he was photographed making his prize-winning drawing at the Watts Chalk-In, a street art competition. His early art education began in the mid-1960's at the Watts Towers Art Center and the Studio Watts Workshop. He also attended the Tutor Art Program (established by the late Bill Tara) which met on Saturdays at the Otis Art Institute.

At these Saturday sessions led by artist William Pajaud, Wyatt began studying, drawing and painting with artist and teacher Charles White. In 1978, he obtained a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from the University of California, Los Angeles. Wyatt has taught drawing and painting at the University of California, Irvine; the Otis/Parsons Art Institute, Los Angeles and the Watts Towers Art Center, Los Angeles. For more than 25 years, Wyatt has actively produced art for public and corporate spaces with more than 30 murals to his credit. He was awarded a public commission, with the artist May Sun, for the important Robert F.

Kennedy Monument in Los Angeles at the former Ambassador Hotel on Wilshire Boulevard. In addition, Wyatt has produced a significant body of smaller scale paintings and drawings that have been regularly exhibited in galleries and museums for more than 30 years - most recently in Looking Ahead: Portraits from the Mott-Warsh Collection at the Muskegon Museum of Art in Michigan in 2008; Visions, Selections from the James T. Dyke Collection of Contemporary Drawings, opening at the Naples Museum of Art, Florida in 2007 and closing at the Arkansas Arts Center, Arkansas in 2008; About Face, a solo exhibition at Steve Turner Gallery, Los Angeles in 2005 and in Representing L. A traveling group museum exhibition organized by the Frye Art Museum in Seattle in 2002. Biographical information provided by Yolanda Wyatt, the daughter of the artist.

Noted artist Richard Wyatt, Jr. Grad from the Class of 1973, has passed away. From the bio on his website: His early art education began in the mid-1960's when his 4th grade teacher, Mrs. Evelyn Freeman, advised his parents to encourage his interest in art. During this period, he studied art at the Watts Towers Art Center and the Studio Watts Workshop.

Wyatt also attended the Tutor Art Program (established by the late Bill Tara) which met on Saturdays at the Otis Art Institute. At these Saturday sessions, led by artist William Pajaud, Wyatt began studying, drawing and painting with his mentor: artist and teacher Charles White. In 1978, Wyatt obtained a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from the University of California, Los Angeles.

He has taught drawing and painting at the University of California, Irvine; the Otis/Parsons Art Institute, Los Angeles; and the Watts Towers Art Center, Los Angeles. 1972 Fairfax alumni will know him as the artist who created the beautiful cover for the yearbook of our senior year. I didn't know Richard personally - there were about 1,000 people in each class and he was a year after me - but he is one of the most accomplished artists that Fairfax H.

1955 is best known for his practice, which includes art in public and corporate spaces, drawing, painting, and installations. Wyatt's work often revolves around themes such as history and culture. He has been a presence in the Los Angeles art scene since he was twelve years old. His early art education began in the mid-1960's when his 4th grade teacher, Mrs. For more than 30 years, Wyatt has actively produced art for public and corporate spaces which have been featured in publications, films, television, and documentaries throughout the world.

In 1996, Wyatt was commissioned to create the "City of Dreams, River of History" mural at the historic landmark Union Station, Los Angeles, CA. In 2010, Wyatt (in collaboration with May Sun) completed a public commission for the historic Robert F. Kennedy Monument located at the former Ambassador Hotel site on Wilshire Blvd. In conjunction with public art, Wyatt has produced a significant body of paintings and drawings that have been regularly exhibited in galleries and museums-most notably, he was invited to exhibit at. Black SoCal: Art and Practice in an Evolving Landscape.

For the 2015 Venice Biennale at the Pallazzo Querini Stampalia in Venice, Italy. However, the exhibition was postponed. Wyatt opened up 2022 with a group exhibition at The Los Angeles County Museum of Art. Followed by his solo exhibition at Steve Turner Gallery.

Followed by a recent group exhibition at The David C. Telling Our Story: Community Conversations with Our Artists.

For 2020, Wyatt opened with two group exhibitions, both at Salon 94 in New York. For 2019, Wyatt was included in the Los Angeles County of Museum of Art exhibit entitled. Life Model: Charles White and His Students. Looking Ahead: Portraits from the Mott-Warsh Collection.

At the Muskegon Museum of Art in Michigan in 2010. African American Artists in Los Angeles. California African American Museum and Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery, Los Angeles in 2009. Visions, Selections from the James T.

Opening at the Naples Museum of Art, Florida in 2007 and closing at the Arkansas Arts Center, Arkansas in 2008. A solo exhibition at Steve Turner Gallery, Los Angeles in 2005 and in. A traveling group museum exhibition organized by the Frye Art Museum in Seattle in 2000-02.

Memphis Brooks Museum of Fine Art, "Black American Portraits". August 17, 2023 through January 7, 2024.

Spelman College Museum of Fine Arts, "Black American Portraits", Atlanta, Georgia. February 8, 2023 through June 30, 2023. Driskell Center, "Telling Our Story: Community Conversations with Our Artists". September 9, 2022 through December 2, 2022. Steve Turner Gallery, "Loss, Healing & Restoration".

January 8, 2022 through February 5, 2022. Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Resnick Pavilion " Black American Portraits". November 7, 2021 through April 17, 2022. Kim, Liz Andrews, & Breanne Bradley.

Salon 94, "Frieze London 2020", London, UK. October 7, 2020 through October 16, 2020. Salon 94, "Portraiture: A Private Room". May 19, 2020 through June 26, 2020. Los Angeles County Museum of Art, "Life Model: Charles White and His Students".

February 19, 2019 through September 15, 2019. Ian White & Sarah Jesse. California African American Museum, "Reflections on the Self: Selections from the Permanent Collection". May 11, 2016 through September 18, 2016.

Driskell Center at the University of Maryland, "Collectors' Legacy, Selections from the Sandra and Lloyd Baccus Collection", College Park, Maryland. September 10 through November 20, 2015.

Muralists: In Their Studios II, Los Angeles, CA. June 6 through July 18, 2015. Selected for Venice Biennale 2015, Palazzo Querini Stampalia, "Black SoCal: Art and Practice in an Evolving Landscape". May through November 2015 (Postponed).

California African American Museum, "Places of Validation, Art & Progression", Los Angeles, CA. September 29, 2011 through April 1, 2012. Civic Virtue: The Impact of the Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery and The Watts Towers Art Center, Los Angeles, CA. December 15, 2011 through February 12, 2012.

Fowler Museum, "Art, Activism, Access: 40 Years of Ethnic Studies at UCLA", Los Angeles, CA. February 28 through June 13, 2010. Irving Arts Center, "The Arthur Primas Collection, 200 Years of African American Art", Irving, Texas.

April 15 through October 15, 2010. Dayton Art Institute, "The Arthur Primas Collection, 200 Years of African American Art", Dayton, Ohio.

November 6, 2010 through January 30, 2011. Hanks Gallery, "Distinctly Los Angeles: An African American Perspective". (Catalogue available), Santa Monica, California.

February 11 through March 28, 2009. Muskegon Museum of Art, "Looking Ahead: Portraits from the Mott-Warsh Collection". August 21 through October 28, 2008. Arkansas Arts Center, Visions: Selections from the James T. Dyke Collection of Contemporary Drawings.

(Catalogue available), Little Rock, Arkansas. September 12 through November 9, 2008. Naples Museum of Art, Visions: Selections from the James T. December 21, 2007 through March 25, 2008.

Kansas African American Museum, Looking Back, Looking Black, African American, African and Latino Images, From the Robert E. September 15 through December 31, 2006. California African American Museum, More Than Meets the Eye, Perspective from the Robert E. Holmes Collection, Los Angeles, CA. January 2006 through April 8, 2006.

North Carolina Central University Museum, "Affirming a Legacy", Durham, NC. February 6, 2005 through the end of April 2005. North Carolina A&T State University Museum, "Affirming a Legacy", Greensboro, NC. October 8, 2004 through December 2004.

Steve Turner Gallery, "About Face", Solo exhibition, Beverly Hills, CA. February 26 through April 9, 2005. Koplin Gallery, "Drawings VI", Los Angeles, CA. July 27 through September 7, 2002.

Frye Art Museum, Representing L. , Seattle, WA, December 2000 to February 2001.

Cal-State Los Angeles, Fine Arts Gallery, "Figure This", Los Angeles, CA; 1999. Cal-State Dominguez Hills, University Gallery, "Family Collections and Recollections", Solo exhibition, Carson, CA; 1998. LAX Los Angeles Biennial, Armory Center for the Arts, CA; 1994. Smithsonian Institution/Experimental Gallery, "Dress Codes; Urban Folk Fashion", Washington, D. October 1993 through March 1994.

Koplin Gallery, "Drawings III", Santa Monica, CA; July 1993. Venice Art Walk/Docent Studio Tours, Sunday May 23, 1993. Koplin Gallery, "Six Los Angeles Muralists", Santa Monica, CA; January 1993. Santa Monica Museum of Art, "Breaking Barriers", Santa Monica, CA; September 1992. California African American Museum of Art, No Justice, No Peace?

, Los Angeles, CA; September 1992. Santa Monica Museum of Art, Artist Projects Series, "Richard Wyatt: Central Avenue Jazz", Santa Monica, CA; 1991. Muralists: In Their Studios, Los Angeles, CA; 1990. Merging One Gallery, Santa Monica, CA; 1989. Arizona State University, University Art Museum, Arizona; 1986.

Western College, Art Gallery, Yuma, AZ; 1986. Gallery, Los Angeles, CA; 1985. Heritage Gallery, Los Angeles, CA; 1983. Ankrum Gallery, Los Angeles, CA; 1982.

Heidelberger Kunstverein' Gallery, Koln, Germany; 1982. Museum of African American Art/The Gallery, "Visions of a Spirit", Los Angeles, CA; 1979. March 16 through April 12, 1979. Municipal Art Gallery, Hollywood, CA; 1977. Brand Art Gallery, Glendale, CA; 1976.

Los Angeles County Museum of Art, "Panorama of Black Artists", Los Angeles, CA; 1972. Jewish Community Center, Art Gallery, Los Angeles, CA; 1971. Security Pacific National Bank Traveling Exhibition, 1971.

Bradbury Library Mural, Commission, Los Angeles, CA, 2016. Apprenticeship program, assisted by Los Angeles High School students Ronald Mendez, Patrick Koh, Yin Ling (Sandy) Li, and Julian Nava.

Kennedy Inspiration Park, Commission, Los Angeles, CA, 2010. Collaboration with artist May Sun; located at the former Ambassador Hotel site on Wilshire Boulevard.

Arkansas Art Center, Collection, Little Rock, Arkansas, 2002. Big Blue Bus Facility Expansion Master Plan, Commission, Santa Monica, CA, 2001. Hidden Beach Recordings Company, Collection, Santa Monica, CA, 2000. Long Beach City Hall Mural, Commission, Lobby, Long Beach, CA, 2000.

Broadway Federal Mural, Commission, Los Angeles, CA, 1999. Ontario International Airport, Commission, Ontario, CA, 1998. Palm Springs Art Commission, Mural for Desert Highland Unity Center, Palm Springs, CA, 1998. Union Station/Gateway Plaza, Commission, Los Angeles, CA, 1996.

Collaboration with artist May Sun and architect Paul Diez. Perspectives in African American Art, Commission, Seagram Co.

Wilshire/Western Metro Red Line Subway Station, Los Angeles, CA, 1995-96. Vincent Medical Center Interior Mural, Commission, Los Angeles, CA, 1994-95. Harvey Library, Commission, Hampton University, Hampton, VA, 1993. National Afro-American Museum, Commission, Wilberforce, OH, 1993.

Screen Actors Guild Interior Mural, Commission, Los Angeles, CA, 1993. White Memorial Medical Center Interior Mural, Commission, Los Angeles, CA, 1992. Spike's Joint, Spike Lee Mural Project, Los Angeles, CA, 1992. Southern California Gas Company, Interior Mural Commission, Los Angeles, CA, 1991. Capitol Records Mural, Commission, City of Los Angeles Endowment Recipient, Los Angeles, CA, 1990-91.

Santa Barbara County Arts, Commission, Mural for Lompoc County Courthouse, Lompoc, CA, 1991. Dewar's Young Artist Recognition Award for Painting, CA, 1989. Hollywood Economic Revitalization Effort Mural, Commission, Hollywood, CA, 1989. National Association for Sickle Cell Disease, Commission, Los Angeles, CA, 1988. Samuel Fryer Hebrew Academy, Interior Mural Commission, Los Angeles, CA, 1988.

Pollock-Krasner Foundation Grant, New York, NY, 1986-87. This commission was made possible by the painter Jackson Pollack and his wife Lee Krasner. Monterey Park Hospital Mural, Commission, Monterey, CA, 1984. Los Angeles 1984 Olympic Mural, Commission, Los Angeles, CA, 1983-84. Selected by the Los Angeles Olympic Organizing Committee to design and execute two murals for the 1984 Olympic Arts Festival.

Villa Gardens Artificial Kidney Center, Commission, Los Angeles, CA, 1981-82. Compton Unified School District, Commission, Compton, CA, 1979-80. UCLA/Afro-American Studies Center Mural, Commission, Los Angeles, CA, 1970.

In collaboration with Guillermo Anderson. A Blessed Life of Art and Music. In February 2023, Dr Bridget Cooks and I had the pleasure of interviewing the Los Angeles-based visual artist and songwriter Richard Wyatt, Jr.

For the Getty Research Institute's African American History Initiative. Wyatt was a joy to interview, making us laugh constantly and sharing what he called Forrest Gump moments, where he was in the right place at the right time to meet and collaborate with celebrities of all stripes. A little over a year after this delightful interview, Bridget and I were saddened to hear that Richard had passed away in May 2024. The world has lost a kind and funny man, as well as an talented artist, musician, educator, and thinker.

While I continue to mourn Richard's passing, I also want to celebrate his life by highlighting the wonderful stories he shared in his oral history about life, art, music, and seeking new challenges. Was an artist whose work includes drawings, paintings, installations, and public art. Wyatt was born in Lynwood, California, in 1955, and lived in the Los Angeles area his whole life.

He began his art career early, winning the Watts Chalk-In at twelve years old, and then studying at the Watts Towers Art Center, the Chouinard Art Institute, and the Tutor/Art Program with artist Charles White. Wyatt attended the University of California, Los Angeles, where he earned a BFA in art. Wyatt taught drawing and painting at the University of California, Irvine; the Otis Art Institute; and the Watts Towers Art Center.

He also had a career as a songwriter, writing songs for musicians like The Miracles, The Sylvers, and New Edition. One thing that continues to strike me about Richard is the indelible mark he has left on the world-and I mean that literally. Some of Richard's best-known work was his public art, which adorned buildings and other public places in the Los Angeles area and beyond.

For this reason, Bridget found interviewing Richard almost surreal. In the oral history, she explained, ". Your work is part of my Los Angeles, " for indeed, Richard's public art shaped the city in which she grew up. After our first day of interviews, Cooks and I drove around Downtown Los Angeles, pointing out and visiting sites where Richard's work dotted the landscape: Union Station, Robert F. Kennedy Inspiration Park, the Capitol Records Building, and on and on. One of Richard's most famous murals. Remains on the Capitol Records Building, although he later replaced the paint on this south-facing exterior wall with ceramic tile to combat the ravages of the sun. When Richard accepted the commission for this work, it was the perfect blend of his love of visual art and his passion for music. In this mural, he memorialized jazz greats, such as Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald, Miles Davis, and Nat King Cole.

And in one of those. Moments, Richard met musician Bonnie Raitt on site at the Capitol Records Building during his original installation. Listen as Richard recounted this moment.

Richard also mused about the role of an artist after unveiling a work of public art, sharing his thoughts on the impact of his public work:. You can't control it. Once it's out there, it's out there. People are going to interpret it and take pictures. And while we spoke about the joys of creating art for wide public consumption, Richard also acknowledged some of the challenges inherent in this work.

Listen as Richard shared about some of his public artwork with collaborator and fellow artist May Sun. Richard's talent also extended to music and resulted in a prolific career as a songwriter for musical artists such as The Miracles, The Sylvers, Peaches & Herb, Tavares, Johnny Gill, and New Edition. Richard wrote his first song, "Keep on Keepin' On (Doin' What You Do)" for The Miracles when he was just eighteen years old. But for Richard, visual art and music were always intertwined, as he experienced synesthesia, a sensory condition in which, among other things, allows some people see colors when they hear music.

Richard explained his synesthesia this way. I didn't even know that term until somebody else told me. When I'm writing, that's one thing. But once I start arranging it and getting the bass and guitar, and then you get strings and horns, there are certain sounds that have a color associated with them.

I can't explain it, but. I see colors once I hear a certain sound, you know? And when I'm creating the arrangements, or even mixing or whatever, and I'm going for a certain effect, it's like once you get mixing, to me it's like glazing in oil. That's the easiest way I can explain it. Richard was a child prodigy who burst into the art world when he was twelve years old, rubbing elbows with more experienced art world talents like Charles White, John Riddle, George Evans, and Bill Pajaud.

Yet, Richard carved out a career all his own. And while he left us too soon, Richard's art lives on. To celebrate this remarkable man and artist, I suggest spending time in Downtown Los Angeles and experiencing the work of Richard Wyatt, Jr. To learn more about Richard Wyatt, Jr. S, extraordinary life and work, explore his oral history!

Art exhibit review: UCLA alumnus Richard Wyatt Jr. Uses art to encapsulate emotion and resilience.

UCLA Department of Art alumnus Richard Wyatt Jr. S latest drawings are surprising pictures of hope and healing. The eight charcoal, graphite and pencil on paper drawings in "Loss, Healing & Restoration" are placed inside and outside the second of three rooms at Steve Turner gallery in West Hollywood. The show is intimate - Wyatt delicately renders portraits of family, himself and Bryant, as well as two drawings that reference St. In "Loss, Healing & Restoration, " the artist draws the emotional gamut of pain and recovery, offering an ode to resilience.

Considering his oeuvre of iconic public works, it is hard to picture Wyatt as an undergraduate art student at UCLA in 1978 - that he walked through the Franklin D. Murphy Sculpture Garden, studied on North Campus and was as young and zealous as current-day art students.

Growing up, Wyatt studied at the Watts Towers Art Center, where he later painted a mural of Cecil Ferguson, and at age 17, he displayed work in the Los Angeles County Museum of Art's "A Panorama of Black Artists" exhibition. With 50 years of practice behind him, Wyatt is at the peak of his technical abilities in Loss, Healing & Restoration. Wyatt pulls viewers into the gallery room with three large drawings. "Glory Cloud, " the full-body drawing of Wyatt's father, looks straight ahead with thunderous authority as the largest drawing in the show. Works to the left and right - "Joyce, " a portrait of Wyatt's wife that fixates viewers with its complex emotion, and "The Gifted One, " a portrait of late basketball star Bryant, perhaps the most moving in the show - attract viewers with their graphic sharpness.

"Loss, Healing & Restoration" is so artistically successful because Wyatt's techniques and materials are perfectly aligned with his figurative and thematic content. It is a show about humble persistence. Wyatt's father stands with his right hand clenched; his wife's face is tightened. "The Gifted One" assumes a slight snarl and St. Paul works toward his story of redemption.

The work is made with commonplace pencil, graphite and elemental charcoal, with evidently painstaking concentration and dedication. As the show's title suggests, these eight works offer a fulfilling emotional arc of healing from tragedy. Even the eyelashes on "The Gifted One" are heartbreaking as reminders of humanness and fragility as well as heartwarming details of Wyatt's maximum tenderness.

The gallery is satisfying, which may not be a virtue for viewers who want subversion, incisiveness or abstract chaos. But for those who need expertly rendered, thoughtful drawings of resilience, "Loss, Healing & Restoration" is the show to start off 2022. (born in 1955) is a famous artist who creates large paintings called murals.

He is well-known for his public art in and around Los Angeles, California. You can see his amazing murals in many places, like the Watts Towers. His art helps tell stories and brighten up public spaces. Early Life and Art Training. Was born in Lynwood, California.

He grew up in Compton. Before moving to the Crenshaw District.

He finished high school at Fairfax High School. Wyatt started his art education early. From 1966 to 1968, he went to the Chouinard Art Institute. He also joined a special art program for young people at the Otis Art Institute on Saturdays. At Otis, he met and learned from a very important artist named Charles White.

White's work had a big impact on Wyatt. He also studied with John Riddle, who helped him get better at his art skills. Riddle encouraged Wyatt to use his art to talk about important social topics. In 1978, Wyatt earned his Bachelor of Fine Arts B. By this time, he had already made connections with other artists in Los Angeles who were also creating murals.

Showed he was a talented artist from a young age. This was a sidewalk art contest put on by the Studio Watts Workshop. At thirteen, he had his art shown in an exhibition at the Los Angeles Bahá'í.

He showed his work alongside John Outterbridge. Who became a helpful guide and supporter for him. Other important people who helped him early in his career included Cecil Fergerson and Claude Booker.

He met them through the Watts Summer Festival. When Wyatt was seventeen, his art was chosen for a big exhibition. It was the "Panorama of Black Artists" show at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. This show helped him become widely known and started his career as an important artist in the African American art community in Los Angeles. Wyatt has also worked as a teacher. At the Watts Tower Arts Center from 1974 to 1978.

He also taught part-time at the University of California, Irvine. And at the Otis Art Institute. Since 1989, he has been able to spend all his time creating his amazing art. Los Angeles Artist Richard Wyatt Jr.

Creates an Art Legacy with Everlasting Murals. 62, has been creating murals throughout Los Angeles for decades and some were recently shown in a documentary at Union Station. Wyatt grew up in Compton and was into art as early as age eight.. He was always staying after school to work on backgrounds for plays and different art projects.

By the time that he reached fourth grade, his teacher told his parents that they should really consider putting him in art programs. From there, his art career took off. "When I was 9-years-old I had an interest in art, but also in the history of Black art, " said Wyatt.

So, I went to the library there in Compton and the librarian said,'we don't have a lot of books on Black artists but come back tomorrow and I'll bring you one of mine. Once I saw Charles White, that did it for me. That was a defining moment for me because his work was just incredible. Wyatt began taking art classes in Watts and ended up in one called True to Art, which selected kids from all over Los Angeles County to meet every Saturday to work with different artists. He looked forward to going to this class every week and at the age of 12, Wyatt and one of his classmates were given the opportunity to create a mural for the Afro-American Studies Center at UCLA.

"It was really cool because it was the summer time and they had a budget, so we could make a little change too, " said Wyatt. I also got to sit in a few classes at UCLA and it was really an eye-opener and it established for us at a young age that college is great.

This opportunity led him to attending the university and graduating with a Bachelor's degree in Fine Arts. After graduating, Wyatt worked at the Pasadena Community Art Center and the Watts Towers Art Center. He also taught at Otis College of Art and Design and UC Irvine, but has been fortunate throughout his career to be able to have consistent work painting murals.

The mural features jazz artists Nat King Cole, Billie Holiday, Duke Ellington and more. It has become an iconic image in Los Angeles and was recently restored, so that it can be admired for years to come.

Wyatt has also created murals in Downtown L. Echo Park, South Central and Inglewood. He also has worked with many famous people, including Spike Lee, his idol Charles White and more. Los Angeles has not only given Wyatt an art career, but has expanded his family as well. Most of my work is centered around L. Which is good for me because my family is here.

I have a wife and two daughters here and my wife's family is here as well, said Wyatt. It's always been important to me to stay close to family. Wyatt recently introduced a documentary that he was featured in called, "Mur Murs", at Union Station, earlier this month. The documentary was directed by French filmmaker Agnés Varda and showcased murals throughout Los Angeles, with Wyatt's "City of Dreams/River of History" being the most prominent image.

This film series at Union Station will continue for a couple more weeks, featuring Ava Duvernay's "This is the Life", on Friday Dec. 1 in the Historic Ticketing Hall at 8 p. Admission is free, but the seats are a first-come first-serve basis, with doors opening at 7:15 p.

"If You Know, Teach": Charles White as Teacher. Kerry James Marshall, David Hammons, Richard Wyatt Jr. Judithe Hernández, and Kent Twitchell discuss White's teaching. There are only a handful of well-known artists across the 20th century who were generous and influential enough to leave behind a legacy not only through their art, but through their teaching.

Among that group is Charles White. While still a young art student in Chicago, White was driven to share what he had learned with others. And later, during his 14-year tenure teaching drawing at the Otis Art Institute (now the Otis College of Art and Design) in Los Angeles, he approached teaching as another mode of representing African American history, humanity, and power-a way of extending the goals of his personal artistic practice.

Plus, he was really good at it. Just look at the large number of White's students who continue to reference his work and his teachings today as they pursue their own art careers, including Kerry James Marshall, David Hammons, Richard Wyatt Jr. Judithe Hernandez, and Kent Twitchell. White's enduring commitment to public murals and to bringing art to underserved communities had a profound influence on.

City of Dreams/River of History. Can be found in Los Angeles's Union Station. Wyatt came to know White as a 12-year-old-one of the youngest participants in the Tutor/Art Program that White taught on Saturday mornings (on top of his already busy teaching schedule and personal artistic and family commitments). By David Egan - Daily Bruin.

This post was updated Jan. 23 at 11:51 p. Just in time for the new year, UCLA alumnus Richard Wyatt Jr.

Paul drawings and the portrait of Wyatt's daughter into the gallery room could have made a more immersive experience. To the chagrin of these works, which are flanking and right behind the room's entrance, it is impossible not to be pulled inside the space. Though they are striking from a distance, all eight works are best seen up close. Wyatt's two self-portraits are each smaller than one square foot and depict a zoomed-in portion of the middle of his face.

The area depicted is right below the eyes - teardrop territory; but in this show of restoration, there is only the skin, time-worn and resilient, a theme also present in the St. In "Paul's Work Clothes #2, " the hand is as weathered as the jeans it reaches for. After the initial pleasure of seeing the drawings, it is hard to wrap one's head around two aspects of Loss, Healing & Restoration. The first is that Wyatt made almost all of these drawings in 2021. Subjectwise, it is clear he made them recently - the stoic portrait of Kobe Bryant and of Wyatt's daughter in an N95 mask are familiar reminders of the loss and tragedy of the past couple of years.

But Wyatt's traditional realism and chiaroscuro treatment of light and shadows, as well as his subjects' subtle emotional power, give the drawings a timeless quality. The second astonishment of the show lies in its realism - that the works were made by Wyatt's hands, mark by mark. Realism is not a golden ticket to good art, but it is an indication of talent and a surefire way to impress viewers. According to a press release, Wyatt states he does not copy but rather observes, using abstract lines to interpret subjects.

This is splitting semantic hairs - Wyatt seems to copy more than he admits, and skillfully at that. Still, up close to the drawings, one can see skin rendered with countless little grayscale lines. Wyatt's father stands with his right hand clenched; his wife's face is tightened by a pursed mouth. Richard Wyatt Jr iconic'Jazz in. Hollywood' mural gains permanence in 2012. Precious little in Hollywood outwardly signifies its glorious jazz history and circumscribed jazz present. Catalina Bar & Grill, the last remaining Hollywood jazz club, isn't even visible from Sunset Boulevard. The Hollywood Bowl, site of the Playboy Jazz Festival and a summer series, hosts all kinds of music, not just jazz. Since 1990, though, Capitol Records, at 1750 Vine Street, has been the site of a major jazz icon.

That's when artist Richard Wyatt Jr. It depicts Duke Ellington, Billie Holiday, Nat'King' Cole, Ella Fitzgerald, Dizzy Gillespie, Charlie Parker, Miles Davis, Chet Baker, Shelly Manne, Gerry Mulligan and Tito Puente. The outdoor painting (22 feet high and 88 feet long) has become a symbol for Tinseltown's jazz lineage, appearing in countless movies, TV shows and videos. The late jazz activist Teri Merrill-Aarons, whose fledgling Los Angeles Jazz Society had only sponsored tribute concerts up to that point, sought out Wyatt.

He was a conspicuous public artist, on his way to becoming the most prolific and high profile Southern California muralist. A select committee settled on the musicians to be represented and Wyatt came up with a design that was quickly approved. Joe Smith headed Capitol at the time and was extremely cooperative. "I'd had my eye on that wall for a long time, " says Wyatt, from his home in L.

Over many months, on a four-story scaffold, Wyatt painted, with help from his father, Richard Sr. He recalls a special moment: "I was working on Gerry Mulligan, " he relates, listening to him on my Walkman, and he pulled up in the parking lot!

He stopped to talk, and loved what he saw. He wrote me a very nice letter later on. All SoCal murals are subject to brutal sun exposure. Years of weather damage robbed the painting of its outer finish.

While Wyatt wanted to restore it for some time, changing Capitol regimes showed varying degrees of interest. Sympathetic executives finally gave him a green light. On subsequent projects, such as the Union Station bus terminal and Robert F. Kennedy High School, Wyatt changed to painting his large-scale pieces onto glazed ceramic tiles. "It's more permanent that way, " he points out.

The immensity of the Capitol piece offered big challenges to a tile re-configuring. Wyatt's friend, artist George Evans, teaches computer graphic design. "I worked with him to digitize the image, " Evans offers. Using his original drawings and photos, we scaled the image and put it on a grid. Then I scanned it so that every tile would be correctly proportioned and contain all the information. Still, all of that visual data had to be transferred onto the tile. Evans enlisted two former students: artist/designers Rudy Mendez and Jose Ramirez. "Jose had a new machine, " Evans recounts, he said could transfer an image onto anything.

So the teacher, " he adds, grinning, "became the student. Conducted the painstaking process of firing the tiles (each piece took two days in the kiln), with help from a dozen students that Mendez had gathered. A professional crew did the installation and, after over a year's time, the original luster of the Capitol jazz mural was restored. "Over the years, " Wyatt Jr.

Marvels, I've met people like Les McCann, Buddy Collette, Horace Silver, and many others who all knew that mural:'Oh-you did that! Maria Cole, Nat's widow, loved the study when she saw it but asked that I paint his favorite tie into it. It's great to be able to touch that kind of history.

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