Kingman's mother was an amateur painter and his father ran a dry goods shop in Oakland. In 1916, under the threat of Amerian involvement in the war, the family moved to Hong Kong. Kingman received a traditional Chinese education while painting as much as he could. In 1926 he began formal art studies at the Lengnon Branch School in Hong Kong under Szetu-Wei, who had trained in Paris in the early 1920s.
Kingman returned to Oakland in 1929 where he worked odd jobs, opened a restaurant, and studied at the Fox and Morgan Art School. It was during this period that he began his serious study of watercolor. He then moved to San Francisco where he had his first one man show at the San Francisco Art Center (1936) which was widely hailed by the critics. He then worked for the Watercolor Division of the WPA and in 1941 won a Guggenheim Fellowship which enabled him to travel and paint.
His first New York show was held at Midtown Galleries in 1942; he remained in New York where he opened a studio and took freelance illustrations jobs. He served in the army during World War II and then taught at Columbia University (1946- ), Hunter College (1948-53) and in 1953 joined the faculty of the Famous Artists School in Westport, CT. Exhibitions of his work were held at Wildenstein's in 1960 and 1963.
Kingman is a painter of the city scene. His work is always optimistic and colorful and usually includes crowds of people having fun. His settings include the street, the park, the beach, carnivals and parades. Often these panoramas include large architectural elements, with people forming accents and rhythms against a patterned composition.
Kingman was nominated to the NAD by Frederic Whitaker. To qualify as Academician he submitted the watercolor "Dead End".
