Divis & Union
oil on canvas
24 x 30 inches
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Since he arrived in San Francisco from his native Thailand, the cityscape artist Veerakeat Tongpaiboon has received wide praise for his ability to capture the light and color and "crookedness" of the city.
But his artistic success did not come quickly or easily.
He has been painting since he was 10 years old. Yet even after winning three international competitions as a teenager, his family frowned upon his desire to be an artist. Pressed to follow a more practical path, he took his degree in interior design and worked with his brother, a Bangkok architect.
Finally he persuaded his mother to let him come to San Francisco to live and work with her younger sister, who owns a Thai restaurant, and to further his education. But it was not design he wished to pursue. Once he was in San Francisco, he enrolled in the master's program at the Academy of Art and renewed his determination to paint. He waited tables and helped manage his aunt's restaurant to pay his expenses.
Since earning his M.F.A. degree, his emergence as a painter has been remarkably successful. His San Francisco cityscapes are now in collections across the country and abroad.
To see more of the artist's work
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