biography of Arthur Vidal DIEHL (1870-1929)

Birth place: London, England

Death place: Fall River, MA

Addresses: Buzzards Bay, MA/Provincetown, MA

Profession: Painter

Studied: largely self-taught, but there is a possibility that he studied with an unknown painter in Milan

Exhibited: Royal Academy, 1899 (The Quai, Aldburgh"); Progess Expo. at Winchester Arms Co., New Haven, CT, 1927"

Comments: He came to NYC c. 1891. Penniless, he painted piecework such as snuff box tops. His studios were variously in Englewood Cliffs, NJ (1905-09); Lakewood and Asbury Park, NJ (1909-13); Truro, MA (1912-13); Boston, Worcester, Springfield, and Providence (1913-15); Provincetown, MA (1914-20s); Bourne, MA (1918-20, winters); St. Augustine, FL (1920-23); Hartford, CT (1924-26); and New Haven, CT (1926-28, on York St.). Around 1921, Fox Movietone made a short movie of Diehl painting and talking at Provincetown. He was best known for his paintings of sand dunes, beach scenes, and harbor scenes of Cape Cod ó and was known to have completed his pictures rapidly, from memory, while carrying on conversations with prospective customers and onlookers at his studio. He never sold through a dealer or gallery. He was also a talented singer and piano player. He was married three times.

Sources: WW19; courtesy Clark S. Marlor, 1965, interview with the artist's son