1960s Portrait Paintings

"PROFILE OF A WOMAN" OIL ON PANEL C.1960 PAINTED IN ITALY 16 X 12 INCHES Morton Dimondstein 1920-2000 At the age of seventeen Morton Dimondstein enrolled in the American Artists School and then the Art Students League in New York City, where he studied painting, drawing, and printmaking with Anton Refregier, Harry Sternberg, and Kimon Nicolaides. After serving in the 387th Field Artillery Battalion during World War II, Dimondstein continued his studies at the Otis Art Institute in Los Angeles. He was one of the first artists to produce serigraphic prints on the West Coast, marketing them as affordable art in galleries and retail stores. His prints and oil paintings garnered several awards during this post-war period, including an A.C.A. Gallery international competition for a one- man show in New York City. In 1951 he moved to Mexico, where he attended the Instituto Politécnico Nacional and studied art with José Gutiérrez and David Alfaro Siqueiros. During his three years in Mexico, Dimondstein worked as a staff artist and instructor in visual education for UNESCO and was a member of the Taller de Gráfica Popular. After moving back to Los Angeles, Dimondstein served as the art editor of the California Quarterly from 1953 to 1956. He briefly worked for the Saul Bass advertising firm where he designed books and book jackets, and collaborated on the ad campaigns for films such as William Wyler’s “The Big Country” and Otto Preminger’s “St. Joan.” Dimondstein received industry recognition for the images he created, but cranking out art for commercial ventures with strict deadlines was not for him. He chose to leave that world in favor of working as an independent artist and art teacher. Over the years he taught at the Kann Art Institute, the New School of Art, the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, and the School of Fine Art which he established with UCLA faculty member Martin Lubner...