July 6, 2000

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACT:  Leslie Unger - (310) 247-3000

                         lunger@oscars.org

Beverly Hills, CA - Watercolor paintings by internationally acclaimed artist Dong Kingman and movie posters spanning much of America's cinema history will be featured in two new exhibitions at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences beginning July 28. Both of the installations will highlight important recent additions to the collections of the Academy's Margaret Herrick Library. Like all exhibitions at the Academy, the two summer shows are free and open to the public.

In the Academy's Fourth Floor Gallery, "Dong Kingman: An American Master in Hollywood" will showcase the film-related work of the famed watercolorist. Kingman was born in Oakland, California, and raised in both California and Hong Kong. His paintings reside in the collections of some of this country's most important museums, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Museum of Modern Art in New York. Kingman was the recipient of numerous awards during his 70-year career, including two Guggenheim Fellowships. Several books of his work have been published.

The Academy's Margaret Herrick Library has recently become the new permanent home of one facet of Kingman's work, the materials he created for motion pictures. Included are his watercolors used to set visual moods or to animate title sequences of such films as "Flower Drum Song" (1961), "55 Days at Peking" (1963), "Circus World" (1964), "King Rat" (1965), "The Sand Pebbles" (1966), "The Desperados" (1969) and "Lost Horizon" (1973). In addition to the original watercolors the exhibition will also feature pen and pencil sketches and sketchbooks, as well as still photographs and video clips of Kingman's unique contribution to the movies.

The Dong Kingman Collection represents the Academy's second major collection of film-related materials from a prominent Asian-American artist (the first being the collection of the legendary cinematographer James Wong Howe, a close friend of Kingman's). Kingman died in May of this year; his longtime friend and art dealer, Monte James, was instrumental in organizing this exhibition.

The Academy's exhibition opens just prior to a major touring exhibition of Kingman's non-film related artwork that will travel to museums throughout the United States. This exhibition will be entitled "Dong Kingman: An American Master."

Simultaneously, a selection of more than 50 film posters will grace the Academy's Grand Lobby Gallery. With "Film Posters: Highlights of Recent Acquisitions," the Academy's Margaret Herrick Library takes the opportunity to share with the public some of the visually stunning posters recently obtained from numerous sources.

Among the stand-out items to be included are a rare three-sheet for the original "King Kong" (1933) and the one-sheet for "Grand Hotel," the acquisition of which puts the Academy just one poster away from having an original one-sheet for every film to be named Best Picture. ("Cavalcade," winner for 1932/33, is the only one of the 72 Best Pictures for which the Academy does not have an original poster.) Also to be included are important titles such as "Citizen Kane," "Cleopatra" (Cecil B. DeMille's 1934 version starring Claudette Colbert), "To Kill a Mockingbird" and Mae West's "I'm No Angel." In addition, original stone lithograph one- and three-sheets from the silent era for Charlie Chaplin's "The Circus" and Mack Sennett's "A Dumb Waiter" will be on display. Film noir ("The Blue Dahlia," "Double Indemnity," "The Postman Always Rings Twice"), Hollywood's Golden Age ("The Band Wagon," "Damn Yankees," "Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House," "Woman of the Year") and Disney animation ("Der Fuehrer's Face," "Ferdinand the Bull," "The Vanishing Private") are also all represented. Posters depicting the pre-political career of Ronald Reagan are also included.

All of the posters in the exhibition are part of the Charles M. Powell Repository of Motion Picture Marketing Materials at the Herrick Library.

"Dong Kingman: An American Master in Hollywood" will continue through September 24; "Film Posters: Highlights of Recent Acquisitions" will close on September 10. Admission is free and open to the public. Viewing hours are Tuesday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and weekends, noon to 6 p.m. The Academy is located at 8949 Wilshire Boulevard in Bevelry Hills. For more information, call 310-247-3600.