Edgar Leeteg

Little Rock Arkansa

Writer James Michener celebrated “Leeteg the Legend” in a 1957 book, “Rascals in Paradise,” a title borrowed for the just-closed Huntington Beach exhibit: “A Rascal in Paradise: The Velvet Paintings of Edgar Leeteg.”

The painter’s favorite subjects: naked or bare-chested island beauties, smiling alluringly or coyly sipping from coconut shells. His buyers: South Sea tourists and tiki-themed restaurants marketing escapist island fantasies the world over.
Known to many as the American Gauguin, Leeteg (1904-1953) led a Jack Kerouac life, ghost-written by William Burroughs. An adventurer by nature, he fled civilization to lead a wild life in Tahiti. Even in a culture not known for its puritanism, he stood out, drinking, fighting, and wenching more than any six men…

David