“The ocean is not a backdrop. It is a body. When a family chooses to be remembered inside this work, the painting carries them the way the sea carries everything else it has ever held.”
— Wyland
Who He Is.
Robert Wyland — known the world over by his single name — has spent more than forty years devoted to a single subject: the living ocean. From his Laguna Beach studio he paints whales, dolphins, sea turtles, and coral reefs not as scenery, but as a continuous body of life that the work is in conversation with.
In 1981 he began the Whaling Walls — a self-funded series of monumental public murals painted on the sides of buildings around the world. He completed the hundredth wall in 2008, an undertaking recognized by Guinness as one of the largest art projects ever attempted by a single artist. The walls were always given to the cities that hosted them.
In 1993 he founded the Wyland Foundation, a non-profit teaching ocean stewardship to children through classroom programs, mobile learning centers, and conservation campaigns. His paintings, sculpture, and books continue to fund that work — which is why the Memorial Collection exists in the form it does: every piece carries forward a practice that has always been about remembering the sea.
- Studio
- Laguna Beach, CA · Est. 1981
Career highlights.
1956
Born in Detroit; his ocean calling begins at 14 after witnessing migrating gray whales in Laguna Beach, CA
1981
Begins the Whaling Walls — monumental public murals devoted to marine life
1992
Paints "Planet Ocean" in Long Beach — a Guinness World Record for the largest mural in the world
1993
Founds the Wyland Foundation for ocean and environmental education
1998
Named official artist by the United Nations for the International Year of the Ocean
2008
Completes the 100th and final Whaling Wall in Beijing, named official artist of the U.S. Olympic Team (also named again in 2010, Vancouver)
Author of more than 20 books on marine life and conservation; work held in museums and corporate collections in over 100 countries
Honored by the United Nations, the Sierra Club, and the Academy of Underwater Arts and Sciences (NOGI Award)
Bronze, cast for a lifetime.
Marine life sculptures cast in solid bronze, painted and signed by Wyland, each with a sealed chamber within the base for a measure of cremated remains. Offered in full-size and keepsake scale, with an optional pedestal or riser.
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Two lives, kept together.
A Wyland bronze marine life sculpture paired with the Memorial Riser™, designed to sit together as one composition. The two pieces remain separate — the bronze urn simply rests atop the riser — and each holds its own sealed chamber, so two people can be kept together.
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Prints on canvas, hand-embellished.
Signed and numbered limited edition prints on canvas, individually hand-embellished with a measure of cremated remains thoughtfully incorporated into the artistic medium, creating a deeply personal connection within the artwork.
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A life's work, signed.
Two hand-signed editions gather four decades of Wyland's paintings, murals, and sculpture: the Limited Edition Signed Book, and the Limited Edition Signed Box Set, which presents the book in a wooden presentation case with additional collector material.
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Honor a life. Nurture the future.
A memorial donation supports the creation and placement of reef structures in designated underwater sanctuaries, where they become thriving habitats for marine life. Families receive a symbolic certificate of reef adoption and the GPS location of the placement — a tribute that keeps growing long after it is made.
Explore the Living Reef →
Wyland x Tribute Art
A New Expression of a Life’s Work
How decades of art made to bring people closer to the ocean became a new way for families to honor the people they love — and a contribution back to the waters that inspired it.
Read the story
Create a Custom Tribute with Wyland
Tell us about the life you are honoring and we will help you explore a personalized piece inspired by your story, memories, or vision.
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