Martha Diamond, painter of city abstractions, dies at 79

Martha Diamond, an acclaimed American artist celebrated for her abstract depictions of urban landscapes, passed away on December 30, 2023. A native of New York City, her artistic journey was profoundly influenced by the city’s streets and skyscrapers. In a review of her 2018 exhibition at Galerie Eva Presenhuber in Downtown Manhattan, critic Peter Schjeldahl remarked that her artwork was “giddily celebratory and drunk on daylight.” David Kordansky, who started representing Diamond in 2023, commended her “command of color and texture” and the “feeling emanating from the canvas.” A solo exhibition of her pieces is scheduled at David Kordansky Gallery in Los Angeles from March 23 to April 27, 2024, followed by a survey titled “Martha Diamond: Deep Time” at Colby College Museum of Art in Waterville, Maine, from July 13 to October 13, 2024, before moving to The Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum in Ridgefield, Connecticut, from November 17, 2024, to May 18, 2025.