Delmer J. Yoakum was an American fine artist, oil and watercolor painter

Painting

Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a surface . The application of the medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush but other objects can be used. In art, the term painting describes both the act and the result of the action. However, painting is...

, designer, serigrapher, Disneyland and Hollywood

Cinema of the United States

The cinema of the United States, also known as Hollywood, has had a profound effect on cinema across the world since the early 20th century. Its history is sometimes separated into four main periods: the silent film era, classical Hollywood cinema, New Hollywood, and the contemporary period...

 motion picture studio scenic artist.

Early life

Del Yoakum was born in St. Joseph, Missouri. Throughout his childhood, he was surrounded by artists. His mother was a painter. After dismissing his hope of studying music, painting became his passion. As a boy in the late 1930s, he received a scholarship for four consecutive years to study each summer with Thomas Hart Benton

Thomas Hart Benton (painter)

Thomas Hart Benton was an American painter and muralist. Along with Grant Wood and John Steuart Curry, he was at the forefront of the Regionalist art movement. His fluid, almost sculpted paintings showed everyday scenes of life in the United States...

 at Kansas City Art Institute

Kansas City Art Institute

The Kansas City Art Institute is a private, independent, four-year college of fine arts and design founded in 1885 in Kansas City, Missouri....

. After serving in the United States Navy

United States Navy

The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...

 during World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

, he came to Los Angeles and studied with Henry Lee McFee

Henry Lee McFee

Henry Lee McFee was a pioneer American cubist painter and a prominent member of the Woodstock artists colony.-Biography:...

, Phil Dike, and Rico Lebrun

Rico Lebrun

Rico Lebrun was an Italy-born, Italian-American painter and sculptor.-Biography :Lebrun was born on December 10, 1900 in Naples, Italy. His formal art education consisted of attending technical school and art classes at night, studying the Old Masters in museums, and assisting fresco painters...

; and at Chouinard Art Institute

Chouinard Art Institute

The Chouinard Art Institute was a professional art school founded in 1921 in Los Angeles, California, by Nelbert Murphy Chouinard .-Founder:...

, Jepson Art Institute

Jepson Art Institute

Jepson Art Institute, founded in Los Angeles in 1945 by artist Herbert Jepson, was an art school located at 2861 West 7th Street that flourished from 1947 to 1953 - becoming an important center for experimental figure drawing, art theory and printmaking. Prior to this, Jepson served as an...

, and the University of Southern California

University of Southern California

The University of Southern California is a private, not-for-profit, nonsectarian, research university located in Los Angeles, California, United States. USC was founded in 1880, making it California's oldest private research university...

's Roski School of Fine Arts.

Professional life

Yoakum's occupation was that of a Painter

Painting

Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a surface . The application of the medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush but other objects can be used. In art, the term painting describes both the act and the result of the action. However, painting is...

 - Designer - Motion Picture Artist in Hollywood, California from 1952-1972. Over 21 years, he worked for Paramount

Paramount Pictures

Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film production and distribution company, located at 5555 Melrose Avenue in Hollywood. Founded in 1912 and currently owned by media conglomerate Viacom, it is America's oldest existing film studio; it is also the last major film studio still...

, 20th Century Fox

20th Century Fox

Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation — also known as 20th Century Fox, or simply 20th or Fox — is one of the six major American film studios...

, and MGM; and did special assignments for Walt Disney Studios

Walt Disney Pictures

Walt Disney Pictures is an American film studio owned by The Walt Disney Company. Walt Disney Pictures and Television, a subsidiary of the Walt Disney Studios and the main production company for live-action feature films within the Walt Disney Motion Pictures Group, based at the Walt Disney...

. All this time he also did his own fine art painting in his own studio. Among his many accomplishments during his long career, he painted the Grand Canyon and Primeval World Diorama scenery (viewable from the train of Disneyland Railroad

Disneyland Railroad

The Disneyland Railroad , originally the Santa Fe & Disneyland Railroad, is a narrow gauge railroad at Disneyland, Anaheim, California, United States, that was inaugurated on the park's live television preview on July 17, 1955. This live steam railway was constructed for $240,000; each of the...

), portions of Pirates of the Caribbean

Pirates of the Caribbean

Pirates of the Caribbean is a multi-billion dollar Walt Disney franchise encompassing a series of films, a theme park ride, and spinoff novels as well as numerous video games and other publications. The franchise originates with the Pirates of the Caribbean attraction, which opened at Disneyland in...

, It's a Small World and the Haunted Mansion

Haunted Mansion

The Haunted Mansion is a dark ride located at Disneyland, the Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World and Tokyo Disneyland. A significantly re-imagined incarnation of the ride, known as Phantom Manor, is located in Disneyland Paris...

 at Disneyland in California.

He also painted scenery for movies such as The Shoes of the Fisherman

The Shoes of the Fisherman

The Shoes of the Fisherman is a 1963 novel by the Australian author Morris West, as well as a 1968 film based on the novel.The book reached #1 on the New York Times bestseller list for adult fiction on 30 June 1963, and became the #1 bestselling novel in the United States for that year, according...

for which he recreated the panel about the life of Moses

Moses

Moses was, according to the Hebrew Bible and Qur'an, a religious leader, lawgiver and prophet, to whom the authorship of the Torah is traditionally attributed...

, and parts of the Last Judgment

The Last Judgment (Michelangelo)

The Last Judgment is a canonical fresco by the Italian Renaissance master Michelangelo executed on the altar wall of the Sistine Chapel in Vatican City...

 by Michelangelo

Michelangelo

Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni , commonly known as Michelangelo, was an Italian Renaissance painter, sculptor, architect, poet, and engineer who exerted an unparalleled influence on the development of Western art...

, for the interior of the Sistine Chapel

Sistine Chapel

Sistine Chapel is the best-known chapel in the Apostolic Palace, the official residence of the Pope in Vatican City. It is famous for its architecture and its decoration that was frescoed throughout by Renaissance artists including Michelangelo, Sandro Botticelli, Pietro Perugino, Pinturicchio...

 (MGM Studios). He created the city of Jerusalem for The Robe

The Robe (film)

The Robe is a 1953 American Biblical epic film that tells the story of a Roman military tribune who commands the unit that crucifies Jesus. The film was made by 20th Century Fox and is notable for being the first film released in the widescreen process CinemaScope.It was directed by Henry Koster...

(which won the 1953 Academy Award for Best Art Direction–Set Decoration, Color

Academy Award for Best Art Direction

The Academy Awards are the oldest awards ceremony for achievements in motion pictures. The Academy Award for Best Art Direction recognizes achievement in art direction on a film. The films below are listed with their production year, so the Oscar 2000 for best art direction went to a film from 1999...

), after which he created a fantastic 600 foot cyclorama

Cyclorama

For the classical album Cyclorama, see Jonathan Goldstein; For the rock album Cyclorama by Styx, see Cyclorama ; for the theatrical backdrop, see Cyclorama...

 that backed the safari camp set of The Snows of Kilimanjaro

The Snows of Kilimanjaro (film)

The Snows of Kilimanjaro is a 1952 film based on the short story of the same name by Ernest Hemingway. The film version of the short story was directed by Henry King, and starred Gregory Peck, Ava Gardner, and Susan Hayward....

. Other films he created dioramic scenes for included Billy Wilder

Billy Wilder

Billy Wilder was an Austro-Hungarian born American filmmaker, screenwriter, producer, artist, and journalist, whose career spanned more than 50 years and 60 films. He is regarded as one of the most brilliant and versatile filmmakers of Hollywood's golden age...

's Some Like it Hot

Some Like It Hot

Some Like It Hot is an American comedy film, made in 1958 and released in 1959, which was directed by Billy Wilder and starred Marilyn Monroe, Tony Curtis, Jack Lemmon and George Raft. The supporting cast includes Joe E. Brown, Pat O'Brien and Nehemiah Persoff. The film is a remake by Wilder and I....

(nominated for the 1959 Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Black-and-White Academy Award), The King and I

The King and I (1956 film)

The King and I is a 1956 musical film made by 20th Century Fox, directed by Walter Lang and produced by Charles Brackett and Darryl F. Zanuck. The screenplay by Ernest Lehman is based on the Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II musical The King and I, based in turn on the book Anna and the King...

, Niagara

Niagara (1953 film)

Niagara is a 1953 thriller-film noir directed by Henry Hathaway and starring Joseph Cotten, Jean Peters, and introducing Marilyn Monroe. Unlike other film noirs of the time, Niagara was shot in Technicolor on location and was one of 20th Century Fox's biggest box-office hits of the year.-Plot:Ray...

, Alfred Hitchcock

Alfred Hitchcock

Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock, KBE was a British film director and producer. He pioneered many techniques in the suspense and psychological thriller genres. After a successful career in British cinema in both silent films and early talkies, Hitchcock moved to Hollywood...

's North by Northwest

North by Northwest

North by Northwest is a 1959 American thriller film directed by Alfred Hitchcock, starring Cary Grant, Eva Marie Saint and James Mason, and featuring Leo G. Carroll and Martin Landau...

(the Mount Rushmore

Mount Rushmore

Mount Rushmore National Memorial is a sculpture carved into the granite face of Mount Rushmore near Keystone, South Dakota, in the United States...

 scene) and many others. During his term at 20th Century Fox, he also worked on many of the Marilyn Monroe

Marilyn Monroe

Marilyn Monroe was an American actress, singer, model and showgirl who became a major sex symbol, starring in a number of commercially successful motion pictures during the 1950s....

 pictures, and even one of the Elvis movies.

Yoakum's work has been exhibited in over 50 galleries, associations, museums, festivals, schools, colleges, fairs and art shows. He also contributed paintings to a number of invitational group shows including two in Mexico

Mexico

The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...

. He received over 30 awards and his paintings also received national recognition in art publications, including a number of art books and several art magazines over the years.

Personal life

Del was married to his wife Barbara Yoakum for over 50 years. He had three children; Robert, Bob and Cathleen. He lived in Sedona, Arizona

Sedona, Arizona

Sedona is a city that straddles the county line between Coconino and Yavapai counties in the northern Verde Valley region of the U.S. state of Arizona...

 for more than 25 years. He was a life-long Democrat

Democratic Party (United States)

The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...

 and a committed Christian, who even painted Christ

Christ

Christ is the English term for the Greek meaning "the anointed one". It is a translation of the Hebrew , usually transliterated into English as Messiah or Mashiach...

's Crucifixion

Crucifixion

Crucifixion is an ancient method of painful execution in which the condemned person is tied or nailed to a large wooden cross and left to hang until dead...

 (which hangs in England's Coventry Cathedral

Coventry Cathedral

Coventry Cathedral, also known as St Michael's Cathedral, is the seat of the Bishop of Coventry and the Diocese of Coventry, in Coventry, West Midlands, England. The current bishop is the Right Revd Christopher Cocksworth....

) and Resurrection

Death and Resurrection of Jesus

The Christian belief in the resurrection of Jesus states that Jesus returned to bodily life on the third day following his death by crucifixion. It is a key element of Christian faith and theology and part of the Nicene Creed: "On the third day he rose again in fulfillment of the Scriptures"...

(which is in the permanent collection of St. Luke's Episcopal Church in Sedona).

Publications

• Who's Who in American Art
• Who's Who in the West
• American Artist Magazine
• Newport Magazine Cover
• The Illustrator (Magazine)
• Dictionary of International Biography
• Art News Magazine
• International Directory (Cambridge, England)
• "Landscapes" (Book), Davis Publications, Inc., 1977
• Arizona Highways (Magazine), 1981
• Road Runner (Book Cover), 1985 http://www.naturegraph.com/nature/birds/Roadrunn.html
• American Artists (Book), 1985
• The California Style (Book), 1985
• Sedona Heritage: Arizona Artists (Book), 1997
• Kudos (Magazine), 2006

Memberships

• National Watercolor Society (Past President 1961 and Honorary Life Member)
• Inglewood Art League (Honorary Life Member)
• Artist Equity Board Member (1951 through 1955)
• National Society of Literature and the Arts
• Sedona Art Center, Sedona, Arizona

Awards

• National GI Exhibit, - Grand Prize - 1948 - Santa Monica, CA
• Adahl Hyde Morrison Silver Medal 2nd Award -Oakland, CA
• Frye Museum - Edouvard Manet Award - 1958 - Seattle, WA
• Santa Monica Arts, Ass'n - 1st Prize - 1948 & 1949 - Santa Monica, CA
• Hawthorne Methodist Church - Grand Award - Hawthorne, CA
• Deluca Award, Las Vegas, NV
• Inglewood Art League - 1st Award - Inglewood, CA
• California State Fair - Honorable Mention Award
• Riverside Art Ass'n - 3rd Award - 1966 - Riverside, CA
• Downey Museum of Art - Honorable Mention Award - 1969
• City of Avalon Best of Show - 1967 - Avalon, CA (see image at right)
• John Marin Memorial Award - Watercolor USA - 1971
• St. Raymonds - 1st Prize - 1971 - Thousand Oaks, CA
• Hawthorne Art Festival - 2nd Award - 1971 - Hawthorne, CA
• Arches Paper Award - National Watercolor Society - 1971
• Inglewood Art League - 1st Award - 1970 - Inglewood, CA
• Hawthorne Art Festival - 1st Award - 1970 - Hawthorne, CA
• San Bernardino Art Ass'n - 2nd Award - San Bernardino, CA
• Catalina Art Ass'n - Honorable Mention Award - 1967
• Catalina Art Ass'n - 3rd Award - 1968
• California State Fair - Honorable Mention Award - 1966 - Sacramento, CA
• Frye Museum - Honorable Mention Award - 1963 - Seattle, WA
• Inglewood Art League - Best of Show - 1969
• Arizona State Fair - Honorable Mention Award - 1973
• Arizona State Fair - Cash Award - 1974
• Arizona State Fair - Public Appeal Award - 1980
• Arizona State Fair - 1st Place Cash Award - 1984
• Arizona State Fair - Honorable Mention Award (WC) - 1986
• Coconino County Fair - 1st Prize - 1973 and 1974
• Laguna Beach Museum of Art Award - National Watercolor Society - 1975
• Jerome Art Center - 1st Prize WC - 1985
• Best of Show - WC - 1985 - Winslow, AZ
• 1st Place - Oil - 1985 - Winslow, AZ
• 1st Place - WC - 1985 - Winslow, AZ
• Honorable Mention Award - Oil - Winslow, AZ

(WC = Water Color)

Permanent collections

• Butler Institute of American Art, Oil
• San Diego Art Museum, Watercolor
• National Watercolor Society, purchase, Motion Picture Art Director
• Newport High School
• Las Vegas art Association, Nevada Power and Electric
• Glendale Federal Savings and Loan, Glendale, Ca
• Brussels, Belgium, Page J. Thibodeaux
• Washburn School
• Coventry Cathedral, Coventry, England, Oil
• St. Luke's Episcopal Church, Sedona, AZ, Oil
• Sedona High School
• Sedona Chamber of Commerce
• Many Private Collections

Exhibited

• Los Angeles Museum 1947-1950, 1952, 1954–1955, 1957 and 1958
• Denver Museum 1953, 1954, and 1960
• Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts 1957, 1969, and 1970
• The Butler Institute of American Art 1953, 1955, 1957–1959, 1964, 1967–1971, 1975–1978, 1980–1985
• Oakland Art Museum 1949, 1950, 1952, 1957, 1966, and 1967
• San Diego Art Museum 1954
• Watercolor USA 1966, 1968–1973, and 1975
• University of Washington 1954
• Hawthorne Art Festival 1967-1969, and 1971
• National Watercolor Society 1954, 1956–1976, 1980, 1982–1985
• DeYoung Museum 1962
• Los Angeles Art Association 1946, 1949, 1951, and 1953
• Frye Museum 1958, 1959, 1961–1965
• Newport High School 1953-1957, 1959–1961
• American Artist Galleries 1949
• National Orange Show 1947, 1949, 1952, 1956, 1957, 1964, 1966, and 1967
• Arizona State Fair 1948, 1973–1977, 1980–1986
• John Ringling Museum 1959 and 1960
• Long Beach Museum 1959, 1960, and 1962
• San Francisco Art Association 1959
• Dulin Gallery of Art 1964
• Virginia Museum 1958 and 1962
• Las Vegas Art Association 1959, 1963, 1965, and 1968
• Pasadena Museum 1954, 1955, 1957, 1959, and 1961
• Palos Verdes Art Gallery 1958 and 1969
• Henry Gallery 1954
• Richmond Art Gallery 1958-1969, and 1963
• Pacific Art Festival 1949
• California Palace Legion of Honor 1955-1957, 1959, and 1961
• Wichita Kansas Centennial 1970
• St. Raymonds, Thousand Oaks, California 1970
• Tucson Art Museum 1964
• Los Angeles Miracle Mile 1965, 1966–1968
• Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery 1946-1948, and 1950
• California State Fair 1951, 1955–1958, 1962, 1966, 1968, and 1970
• Inglewood Art League 1961-1969
• Riverside Art Association 1966 and 1971
• Riverside National Date Festival Exhibit 1966
• Santa Monica Art Association 1949 and 1958
• Downey Museum of Art 1969
• Los Angeles City Art Festival 1965-1971
• Catalina Art Association 1966-1971
• Cerritos College 1967
• La Mirada Art Association 1967 and 1968
• Laguna Beach Art Show 1969
• Los Angeles Home Show 1967 and 1978
• Mainstreams (Marietta, Ohio) 1968
• Glendale Fine Arts Center (Glendale AZ) 1984 and 1985
• Sedona Arts Center (Sedona AZ) 1981 and 1986
• Winslow, AZ 1985 and 1986
• Jerome Art Center (Jerome AZ) 1986
• Santa Paula 1958, 1961–1963, 1967, 1968, and 1970
• Grand Canyon Diarama, Disneyland 1958–present

Quotations

Regarding Del Yoakum:
(Les Krantz, American Artists) (Isabel McCord Stroud, Sedona Heritage: Arizona Artists) (Lucas O. Seastrom, Welcome to the Disneyland Railroad Grand Canyon Diorama Tribute!!)

External links

• Delmer J. Yoakum, "Hollywood Scenic Artist"
• Ask Art: Del Yoakum
• Multibello: Delmer J. Yoakum
• Delmer J. Yoakum Artwork /Filmed by Robert D. Yoakum
• This Day in Disney History: DEC 06
• Welcome to the Disneyland Railroad Grand Canyon Diorama Tribute!!
• Road-Runner! book featuring paintings of Del Yoakum's "Delmer J. Yoakum of Sedona did beautiful watercolor paintings of roadrunners which were used for the front and back covers of the book."
• Ask ART: Henry Lee McFee
• Ask ART: Phil Dike
• Ask ART: Rico Lebrun