The Urban Vision of Martha Diamond
Born in Manhattan, United States, Martha Diamond was an American painter and printmaker. Her artistic journey began with an interest in light, space, and structure, inspired by drives through the city with her father. After graduating from Carleton College in Minnesota, she spent a year in Paris before returning to New York in 1965. She later earned an M.A. from New York University in 1969, eventually moving into a loft on the Bowery where she became an active participant in the downtown art and poetry scene.
Diamond's body of work ranges from partially abstract cityscapes to pure abstractions, frequently executed on a very large scale. Her paintings have been included in the permanent collections of several prestigious institutions, including:
Legacy and Recognition
Throughout her career, Diamond was deeply connected to the art communities of both New York and Maine. She served on the Board of Governors of the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture from 1982 to 2018 and taught at the School of Visual Arts in New York and at Harvard University. Her work has been featured in significant exhibitions, including the 1989 Whitney Biennial, and she has held solo shows at the Brooke Alexander Gallery, Robert Miller, the Bowdoin College Museum of Art, the Portland Museum of Art, and the New York Studio School.
Diamond received several honors for her contributions to the arts, such as:
In 2020, she established the Martha Diamond Trust to work on a catalogue raisonné.
