DIANE ESMOND
(French, 1910-1981)
RED FLOWERS
Oil on Canvas
31¾ x 23½ Inches
Signed Upper Right, "Esmond"
Additionally Signed, Verso, and Dated 1961
Born in London, Diane Esmond was raised in Paris where she studied painting with the French artist Edouard MacAvoy in the 1930s. In addition to painting, she also designed stage-settings for performances of classic French theater, in collaboration with directors/actors Jean-Louis Barrault, Madeleine Renaud, and Marie Bell. In advance of the German occupation of Paris, Esmond fled to New York in 1940, where she lived until 1952, at which time she once again returned to Paris. During the occupation of Paris, Esmond's home had been plundered and a large number of her works confiscated, of which only few survived.
Diane Esmond worked in the tradition of French impressionist and post-impressionist painters. Her favored subjects were landscapes, interiors and still-lifes. Her landscapes were inspired notably by the Provençal countryside and by the Caribbean tropical forest. These and other subjects, as well as related semi-abstract representations, she conveyed in oil, gouache and ink. She also designed stage-settings for performances of classic French theater, in collaboration with directors/actors Jean-Louis Barrault, Madeleine Renaud, and Marie Bell.
Esmond participated in numerous individual and group exhibitions. Solo showings of her paintings were presented at galleries in New York and London, including Carstairs, Chardin, Hammer, Knoedler, and Wildenstein. In Paris, she exhibited at the Salon d'Automne (1970) and, with Picasso and Chagall, at the Galerie de L’Elysée (1961).
Reference:
E. Benezit, Dictionnaire des Peintres, Sculpteurs, Dessinateurs, et Graveurs, Jacques Busse, 1999 Nouvelle Édition, Gründ 1911, Vol. 5, p. 182; artist website; et al.
Solo Exhibitions:
1950 Galerie Chardin, Paris
1951 Carstairs Gallery, New York
1953 Galerie André Weil, Paris
1963 Galerie Knoedler, Paris
1968 Galerie Motte, Geneva
1972 Knoedler Gallery, New York
1973 Victor Hammer Galleries, New York
1978 Wildenstein Gallery, London
Group Exhibitions:
1951 Galerie Christofle, Paris
1961 Galerie de L’Elysée, Alex Maguy, Paris (also including Picasso and Chagall)
1970 Salon D’Automne, Grand Palais, Paris
