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Portraits And Figures Show Is Next At Art Center
A new show at the Falmouth Art Center features Diana Lee's works and portraits and figure paintings by three other Falmouth artists.
Artist Diana Lee of East Falmouth has focused on portraits since her art school days at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston in the 1970s.
A new show at the Falmouth Art Center features her works, and portraits and figure paintings by three other Falmouth artists: Ruth Leech, Cathy van der Bil and Peg Wilson. The show opens Friday, April 2, and runs until April 26.
“Of all the subject matter that I’ve done over the years, the portrait and figure have been where my true passion lies and where my heart is,” Ms. Lee said.
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It is within these portraits and figures that Ms. Lee strives to express the individual light, essence, energy and presence of each person. Ms. Lee also teaches painting at the art center.
Observing works by Picasso and Matisse in art books and museums opened up a new world beyond the traditional approach to the portrait and figure, Ms. Lee said: “These artists are my muses and continue to be an inspiration in my painting.”
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While an art student, one of Ms. Lee’s first jobs was as a portrait caricature artist for Legal Seafoods in Cambridge. She would sketch restaurant patrons waiting to be seated in the dining room. The owner of the restaurant told her that he had interviewed more than 200 artists for the job before meeting and watching Ms. Lee sketch.
Over the years while raising her family, Ms. Lee worked for extra cash as a portrait artist in the Falmouth Mall during the holiday season and occasionally at company parties. She did sketches, mostly of children, in pastels and charcoal.
In 2018 she joined the Falmouth Art Center’s Friday Figure group, an informal session of painters sketching live models.
Ms. Lee invited three of the other artists in the group to exhibit with her in this show.
In 2019, Ms. Lee received a grant from the Falmouth Cultural Council to pursue painting portraits and figures and to have a show thereafter. This show is supported by that grant.
The Falmouth Art Center at 137 Gifford Street is free and open to the public Monday to Friday from 9 AM to 4 PM, Saturday from 10 AM to 2 PM, and Sunday from 1 to 4 PM.
