Edgar Leeteg

Edgar William Leeteg (April 13, 1904 East St. Louis, Illinois was an American painter often considered the father of American velvet painting. He immigrated to French Polynesia in 1933, where he spent the rest of his life painting the local life on black velvet. At first he worked as a sign-painter for theatres and cinemas but barely made a living. His mother ran a restaurant, but went broke and returned to the US. Edgar stayed and took whatever work he could find. Using the island women as models, he sold paintings to bars and visiting tourists. He tried various media including wood and cloth, but finally settled on black velvet with astounding success. The Deckers arranged to meet Leeteg and paid him to paint six paintings for them. After the commissioned paintings arrived at their home in Salt Lake City, they made a deal with Leeteg to paint at least ten paintings a year for them. The deal lasted until Leeteg's death and the Deckers accumulated more than two hundred of Leeteg's velvet paintings. It was the Deckers' financial support that ensured Leeteg's economic survival, but it was Honolulu art dealer Bernard ("Barney") Davis who would make him famous.

Leeteg's popularity soared following a fortunate meeting with Honolulu art gallery owner Barney Davis, who became his agent. It was with Davis' help that Leeteg built his great Villa Velour estate in Moorea. Davis worked as Leeteg's agent and they had a fruitful and profitable relationship together. His paintings were popular in bars in America and Polynesia.

Davis branded Leeteg the 'American Gauguin', and soon Leeteg's paintings were being sold for thousands of dollars. Fame as an artist is something he never expected saying, "My paintings belong in a gin mill, not a museum. If this modern crap is art, then just call my paintings beautiful. Don't call them art." James Michener called him "... at least the Remington of the South Seas."

Photographs of Leeteg are few, but Michener described him as "short, not more than five feet three, with a round face and sparse black hair. The mouth is ample, the lower jaw juts forward slightly, the nose is large. His eyes are a steely blue." He writes that he suffered from elephantiasis but that it was controlled with the drug Hetrazan. Nevertheless, he has continued to have his ardent admirers.

In popular culture

The video game Psychonauts features a character named Edgar Teglee, a black velvet painter.

“Black Velvet", the song, is a tribute to Elvis Presley, often painted on black velvet. Canadian songwriters Christopher Ward and David Tyson wrote the song, initially recorded by Alannah Myles in 1990.