Julio de Diego Prints and Multiples
American, 1900-1979
Julio De Diego was one of the most colorful artists to work in Chicago. Born in Madrid in 1900, he left home at the age of 15 to apprentice as a scene painter for theatres. After service in the Spanish army, including six months fighting in North Africa, Diego traveled to Paris and Rome to study art. He also appeared as an extra in Diaghilev’s Ballet Russes. He emigrated to the United States in 1924. He lived in New York for two years, then went to Chicago, where he remained until 1942. At first, he earned a living as a magazine illustrator, decorative painter and graphic designer. By the early 1930s, Diego began to show regularly at the Art Institute of Chicago, appearing at thirty-two annual exhibitions of Chicago Artists, American artists and watercolorists, between 1931–47. He was employed by the easel division of the Illinois Art Project during the mid-1930s. He traveled to Mexico for the first time in 1939, becoming close friends with Carlos Mérida. Diego was deeply affected by the Spanish Civil War, and many of his works reflect the conflict that presaged the Second World War. Meditation over Inexplicable Logic seems to be a kind of preparation for his self-portrait in the Art Institute’s collection, titled The Perplexity of What To Do (1940). Both feature isolated, brooding figures lost in their inability to respond to events. He left Chicago in 1942 but continued to exhibit his work at major institutions. In 1946, Life magazine’s article described him spending time “cooking aromatic Spanish dishes and reading works of Spanish mystical philosophers and poets. He smokes cigarettes incessantly and dresses flamboyantly, affecting cerise mufflers and jangling bracelets.” Diego gained more notoriety in 1948 when he married the great burlesque artist, Gypsy Rose Lee. After their separation and divorce in the mid-1950s, he lived for a time in New York at the Chelsea Hotel, a haunt of artists, musicians and poets. Diego settled in Sarasota, Florida in 1967, near former friends from Chicago, where he died in 1979. Daniel Schulman References “Julio De Diego: He Paints Weird War and Peace.” Life Magazine, March 11, 1946. De Diego, Julio. Pamphlet File P-07866. Ryerson Library, Art Institute of Chicago.
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Artist: Julio de Diego
original lithograph
By Julio de Diego
Located in Henderson, NV
Medium: original lithograph. This lithograph was printed in 1955 for the "Improvisations" portfolio, and published by the Artists Equity Association of New York in an edition of 2000...
Category
1950s Julio de Diego Prints and Multiples
Materials
Lithograph
original lithograph
By Julio de Diego
Located in Henderson, NV
Medium: original lithograph. This lithograph was printed in 1956 for the "Improvisations" portfolio, published by the Artists Equity Association of New York on the occasion of the 19...
Category
1950s Julio de Diego Prints and Multiples
Materials
Lithograph
original lithograph
By Julio de Diego
Located in Henderson, NV
Medium: original lithograph. This lithograph was printed in 1952 for the "Improvisations" portfolio, published by the Artists Equity Association of New York on the occasion of the 19...
Category
1950s Surrealist Julio de Diego Prints and Multiples
Materials
Lithograph
original lithograph
By Julio de Diego
Located in Henderson, NV
Medium: original lithograph. This lithograph was printed in 1950 for the "Improvisations" portfolio, published by the Artists Equity Association of New York on the occasion of the 19...
Category
1950s Surrealist Julio de Diego Prints and Multiples
Materials
Lithograph
original lithograph
By Julio de Diego
Located in Henderson, NV
Medium: original lithograph. This lithograph is from the rare 1951 "Improvisations" portfolio, published by the Artists Equity Association of New York on the occasion of the 1951 Spr...
Category
1950s Surrealist Julio de Diego Prints and Multiples
Materials
Lithograph
The Book of Ah!
By Julio de Diego
Located in Fairlawn, OH
String bound booklet (portfolio) with six hand colored woodcuts, signed in pencil by the artist, tipped in the book
Provenance:
Estate of the artist
By descent to his daughter Kir...
Category
1960s American Modern Julio de Diego Prints and Multiples
Materials
Woodcut
original lithograph
By Julio de Diego
Located in Henderson, NV
Medium: original lithograph. This lithograph was printed in 1953 for the "Improvisations" portfolio, published by the Artists Equity Association of New York on the occasion of the 19...
Category
1950s Surrealist Julio de Diego Prints and Multiples
Materials
Lithograph
original lithograph
By Julio de Diego
Located in Henderson, NV
Medium: original lithograph. This lithograph was printed in 1954 for the "Improvisations" portfolio, published by the Artists Equity Association of New York on the occasion of the 19...
Category
1950s Julio de Diego Prints and Multiples
Materials
Lithograph
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Julio De Diego prints and multiples for sale on 1stDibs.
Find a wide variety of authentic Julio de Diego prints and multiples available for sale on 1stDibs. You can also browse by medium to find art by Julio de Diego in lithograph, woodcut print and more. Much of the original work by this artist or collective was created during the 20th century and is mostly associated with the Surrealist style. Not every interior allows for large Julio de Diego prints and multiples, so small editions measuring 9 inches across are available. Customers who are interested in this artist might also find the work of Roland Topor, Jack Zajac, and Henri Laurens. Julio de Diego prints and multiples prices can differ depending upon medium, time period and other attributes. On 1stDibs, the price for these items starts at $150 and tops out at $3,500, while the average work can sell for $200.