1964, Painted in Hawaii
Oil on black velvet
20 × 16 inches
Original hand-crafted Frame by the artist included

Figure  from Tyree, Artist of the South Pacific by CJ Cook

Painted in Hawaii in 1964, Young Girl from Koror reflects Ralph Burke Tyree’s mature handling of oil on black velvet and his long engagement with Pacific Island subjects. The model is presented in three-quarter profile, her expression contemplative and inward, conveying dignity and individuality rather than idealization. Tyree exploits the absorptive qualities of the velvet ground to heighten contrast, allowing the warm modeling of the face and shoulder to emerge from a subdued, atmospheric background.

Though executed in Hawaiʻi, the model is from Koror, the largest city of Palau,  in Micronesia—a region Tyree knew well through his postwar travels and work in Guam, Hawaii, and California. The composition emphasizes stillness and restraint, hallmarks of Tyree’s later portraiture. At the same time, the subtle modulation of light across the sitter’s features demonstrates his refined technical control and sensitivity to texture and mood.

Portraits from Tyree’s Micronesian period are relatively scarce, and works of this intimacy, provenance-  from the estate of Zsa Zsa Gabor; thereafter by descent to a private collection.