Grandview Gardens
The story of LA Chinatown's Grandview Gardens restaurant
1925
Old Chinatown Grandview Gardens is opened by Henry Wong at 749 1/2 North Alameda Street
1934
Residents are evicted from Old Chinatown to make room for Union Station on Alameda Avenue
1935
Henry Wong passes away
Late 1930s
Brothers Doc and Norman Wong purchase the lot at 951 Mei Ling Way in New Chinatown. They hire modernist architect Harwell Hamilton Harri s to design the restaurant
1940
Opening of Grandview Gardens in New Chinatown & possible closing of Old Chinatown
1950s
Doc Wong used Grandview Gardens as test kitchen for new recipes for new Chinese frozen food company he started
1969
Fire at Grandview Gardens leads to the remodeling of the restaurant by Savo Stoshitch and the introduction of dim sum to the menu
1976
Restaurant sold to corporation that included brothers Irvin, Collin, and Milton Lai (Irvin would eventually buy his brothers out and become sole owner)
1982
July 6: Gov. Jerry Brown signs the Chinese Roast Duck Bill (AB2603) at Grandview Gardens, allowing restaurants to use the traditional Chinese method of preserving whole ducks
1983
Justice for Vincent Chin Movement and Protests at Grandview Gardens
1988
Chinese Historical Society of Southern California president Angi Ma Wong said it is “the oldest continuously operated Chinese restaurant under the same name in Los Angeles.”
1991
Grandview Gardens officially closes
1993
Two of Chinese American artist Tyrus Wong’s murals that were painted for Grandview Gardens are displayed on Olvera St
01 / 05
The mural above is a landscape with a fisherman's hut. This was the mural that hung next to the piano in the dining room. It is more subtle in style, typical of a watercolor, and typical of Chinese art ink wash painting (shui-mò), which is a looser more abstract style of painting that allows the mind of the viewer to fully form the scale and imagery of the landscape. This “less literal” translation, is typical of classic Chinese paintings with flattened perspectives and stacked multiple planes creating depth. The use of perspective in Chinese art differs greatly from the linear approach of Western art. There is no “vanishing point” in classic Chinese landscapes, they don’t assume the viewer is in a fixed position, which works especially well for a long mural. A philosophical point embraced by Chinese art is where every viewer can have their own perspective on the composition; the artist is not defining your viewpoint with a linear vanishing point.
This mural, which was in the bar room, features five Chinese mythological characters (From L to R): Monkey King, Hua Mulan, Guan Yu (the Chinese god of war), Chang'e, and Houyi . Tyrus Wong enhanced the figures with recognizable Chinese clothing patterns versus solid colors. The figures are more dynamic and calligraphic in their style, versus the Landscape mural, and they better represent the Gongbi, or “working pen” style. The bold, meticulous, sweeping brushstrokes of vivid color enhance the dynamic action of the figures, and the strokes of strong color add weight and power to the action poses.
Panel with details of pine trees
Details of Murals
In the landscape mural, the distant mountains and trees were minimally rendered with similar hues, and very subtle shaped gestures of the brush represent the ridge of a mountain or the shape of a tree. The cool monochromatic palette represents the atmosphere between the viewer and the distant mountains. The colors are muted as they appear to fade in and out of the mist.
There is a recurring theme within classic Chinese art where man is a guest and nature is the host that is shown in this mural as well. The fisherman is dwarfed by nature, even the boathouse appears insignificant amongst the trees in the foreground and rising mountains in the distance.
It is full of iconic symbolism: the farmer, the bridge, the rising mountains, the fishing hut, water, stones, birds, and the pine or evergreen trees all are common elements in Chinese art. The pines in the center of the composition often represent longevity and endurance in Chinese art.
Panels with mountain in landscape mural
Distance is often represented by a “cooling” of the colors and muting of hues. Tyrus Wong employed this method in his landscape mural to create an atmosphere. The receding trees and mountains were also partially hidden, the bases of the mountains are not rendered, and the peaks play hide and seek in the mist. Classical Chinese flat perspective techniques with minimal rendering allow the viewer to complete the image with their imagination.
Additionally, Wong creates complex textures with “calligraphy” style ink brushes by alternating wet and dry brush techniques.
Panels of Houyi that includes Tyrus Wong's signature on the bottom right corner and evidence of damage done by the restaurant near the bottom of the panels
The final murals were painted on casein on masonite boards. There is evidence that somebody tried to preserve both murals as there are brush strokes, drips, and sheeting created by an application of a “coating” solution or varnish after installation. The area behind the rails that held the murals in place does not have the coating applied but there are signs of the coating “pooling” on the bottom edges of the murals. The coating has “yellowed” considerably, which alters the hues of the original murals. When it was originally painted, the background would have been far less “warm or yellow” in hue.
Since the murals were located in a restaurant, the environment affected the paintings over time as between the cooking aerosols, cigarettes, and the occasional splash of food and beverage, they have retained a visual history of their location.
Sun WuKong, aka the Monkey King, is one of the most well-known Chinese mythical creatures. A monkey with many incredible abilities and wielding his staff (Rúyì Jīngū Bàng), he is one of the main characters of the Chinese novel Journey to the West (Xī Yóu Jì.)
Many of the Opera images required connecting the arc of a long brushstroke across panels. Because Tyrus Wong did not have the space in his studio to line up the panels, it is likely that he had to match this brushstroke to the adjacent panel, which is a difficult task. He could have matched adjacent panels together by painting them on the floor, but his studio space was limited.
Between the two murals, the mural with the figures is easier to maintain since it is on a simple field with no continuous natural elements in the background requiring consistency across the mural’s length.
Contributions by Randel Urbauer
Side-by-Side of the Murals vs the Preliminary Sketch
Murals are color corrected to demonstrate how they would have looked in the past while they were mounted in Grandview Gardens.
Original sketch appears to have different Chinese figures
Tyrus Wong painted the mural in reverse from the sketch because of the placement of the piano in the restaurant.
Check out more about Tyrus Wong:
Special Thanks to Kim Wong:
Kim Wong, Tyrus Wong's daughter; with CHSSC president Susan Dickson (pictured on right) during a meeting discussing Tyrus's life, murals, and legacy
Special Thanks to Sophia Wong, Calvin Wong, & Carole Sutherland (Norman and Doc Wong's children)
(From Left to Right) Sophia Wong, Cavin Wong, and Carole Sutherland at CHSSC
Also a special thanks to Mark S. Collier for acquiring Grandview Gardens artifacts
Virtual Exhibit funded by the Louie Family Foundation
Photographer of Murals and Consultant: Randel Urbauer
CHSSC Grandview Gardens Research Project Team: Project Manager: Coryn Hardison CHSSC Interns: Alyssa Hemler & Riona Tsai
