Jonathan Winters is widely known as a comedian. Everybody thinks of him as a funny man who does funny things. He sometimes dresses like an old lady selling dark brown garbage bags on TV with a mischievous look on his face. He talks softly at first. Then, all of a sudden, his humor hits you like an ax.

But I know Jonathan better. I enjoy seeing him as a performer and laugh at his jokes, but I also respect him and his work as a painter. I have visited his home and gone down to his nine-feet-below-ground studio in a four-by-four-foot room just big enough to hold a drawing table and a couple of chairs. We often sit there and talk about life, about art, and exchange ideas.

I have seen his paintings on exhibition, and his collection of interesting curios and knickknacks displayed in his house. His style of painting is abstract, reminding me of that of Wassily Kandinsky or Paul Klee at first sight. But his use of design, pattern, and calligraphy to express his feelings goes much deeper beneath the surface.

To understand his wonderful ability to tell funny stories as a performer, one must also see him as a painter and analyze his artwork.

-Dong Kingman

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