Victor Di Gesu

Artist's bio, as quoted from AskArt database:

"He met fellow artist, Janet Ament de la Roche while studying art at the Chouinard and Jepson Art Institutes in Los Angeles and they soon married. Eager to escape the "Sanity in Art" movement that had swept across the United States, they spent four years in Europe on the GI Bill and attended the Academie de la Grande Chaumiere in Paris, the Escuela de Belles Artes de San Jorge in Barcelona and schools in Italy. Both studied with Andre L'Hote, Yves Brayer and Jean Aujame and Victor also worked with Carlo Socrate.

Their works have received world wide recognition with exhibitions at numerous major galleries in Europe and the United Sates, including the Louvre, the Grand Palais in the Salon d'Automne, San Francisco Museum of Art, Los Angeles County Museum, San Francisco Civic Center and the Monterey Peninsula Museum of Art.

In 1956, they returned to the US and built a home in Pacific Grove, California. Shortly thereafter, prominent artist, Armin Hansen, promoted and sponsored Victor and Janet for membership into the Carmel Art Association.

Education:

Los Angeles Art Center, Los Angeles, California

Chouinard's, Los Angeles, California

Jepson's, Los Angeles, California

Academie de la Grande Chauniere, Paris, France

Academie Andre L'Hote, Paris, France

Escuela de Belles Artes de San Jorge, Barcelona, Spain

Studio Hinna, Rome, Italy

Studied with:

Preston Dickenson, Stanley B. Reckless, Lawrence Murphy

F.Tolles Chamberlain, Yves Brayer, Edouard Goerg

Jean Aujaume, Andre L'Hote, Carlo Socrate

Earl Kerkam, Maynard Jepson

Exhibited:

San Francisco Museum of Art, 1948

Los Angeles County Museum, Los Angeles, California

San Francisco Civic Center, San Francisco, California

Salon D'Automne - Grand Palais, Paris, France

Louvre - Paris, France

Exposition des Artists Etrangers a Paris

Monterey Peninsula Museum of Art 1982

Pacific Grove Art Center, Pacific Grove, California

Carmel Art Association, Carmel, California

James Reisner Fine Art, Carmel, California

Gerry Byrne Fine Art, Carmel, California

Victor also taught art on the Monterey Peninsula from 1970 until his death in 1988.

Victor Di Gesu was featured by the Carmel Art Association in their 75th Anniversary Historical Exhibition, (August 8 - September 4, 2002). This special exhibit bridges the seventy five years of its existence with paintings by seventy five deceased members who played an integral role in its history, as well as presenting new works by its present members.

In 1948, Victor Di Gesu was invited to submit two paintings for the most important San Francisco Art event of the year. An oil painting, Torso of a Woman, was accepted for exhibition at the San Francisco Museum of Art. Fellow artists chosen to exhibit included Bay Area Figurists Richard Diebenkorn, Samuel Francis, Frank Lobdell, David Park, Elmer Bischoff, Hassel Smith and Barbara Stevenson (Judith Deim).

Source:

Information courtesy of Jonathan Clark"