By Elizabeth Fulford
With thanks to WFA Member Jeffery Wing
People remember artist Ronald Wing (1929-2015) for his humor, his great generosity to family, colleagues, friends and even strangers and recall that he tenderly perceived the human condition — pathos to exultation, banality to originality — as wonderfully varied, funny, and most of all, endearing and poignant as you will see in WFA member Jeffery Wing’s story below.
Ron was born in 1929, in San Diego, Calif. As a child he lived in Panama City, Panama, Dubois, Pennsylvania, and Norwich, Connecticut. He attended the Norwich Free Academy (NFA), where he graduated in fine arts. Through the combination of his natural talent and excellent preparation from NFA, he was offered a Scholastic scholarship at Pratt Art Institute in Brooklyn, where he studied art for several years before serving in the U.S. Navy during the Korean War.
When Ron came home from Korea, he settled in New York City and made his living from cartoons and illustrations. He was regularly published in a number of well-known magazines such as Business Week, Argosy, Pageant, Coronet, Readers Digest, and The Saturday Evening Post, to name but a few. He illustrated children’s books for Bantam — including many of the Choose Your Own Adventure series and he was also the cartoonist for Larry Wilde’s ethnic joke books. That was the commercial side of his life.
On the creative side he kept on painting and was exhibited in many galleries and museums. See his self-portrait above. He is in the permanent collection of the Slater Museum in Norwich CN.
WFA member Jeffery Wing, who sent the information about Ron, provided this quirky family story about him.
My dad and Ronald (left) were first cousins. My dad was a huge car buff throughout his life often visiting junk yards for parts and Ron knew this. When my parents got married in 1957, Ron brought this painting (below) as a wedding gift to my mom and dad, remembering my dad’s love for all things automotive.
Ron got off the bus at their wedding location with this painting under his arm wrapped in old brown grocery bags. Apparently, it was the best wedding gift of all as my dad hung it in all his houses. I do not know any other wedding gifts that are still in the family. Now, it’s one of Ron's paintings that hangs on my wall still in the original frame.
In his later life, Ron lived and worked at his rustic gallery in the West Creek Mill, Benton, PA. He staged an art show there which was a popular annual event. He passed away at his daughter’s home on Feb. 19, 2015.
Self-Portrait from online auction galleries Invaluable.com and MutualArt.com
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