Tyree: Artist of the South Pacific

The World War II US Marine who became an iconic artist of the Tiki aesthetic.

Raised in Central California, Ralph Burke Tyree was the most prolific portrait artist of the South Pacific peoples of the twentieth century. After studying art at the California College of the Arts in Oakland, Tyree joined the Marines seven weeks after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. He soon shipped off to Samoa.

There, Private Tyree was befriended by his Commanding General and became the Marine base’s artist, painting the officers and their loved ones. Thus began a thirty-year career as a professional artist.

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