Victor Di Gesu (1914-1988) Born in Longmeadow, Massachusetts in 1914, Victor Di Gesu’s early interest in becoming an artist led him to studies at Chouinard Art School and Jepson Art Institute in Los Angeles. It was there that he met fellow Hollywood-born painter Janet Ament de la Roche (1916-2000). They soon married. After World War II ended, the couple was to escape the “Sanity in Art” movement that was sweeping across the United States as a reaction to the rise of modern art including Cubism, Surrealism, and Abstract Expressionism, Victor and Janet spent four years in Europe on the GI bill, attending the Academie de la Grande Chaumière in Paris and Escuela de Belles Artes de San Jorge in Barcelona, as well as several schools in Italy. Both studied with André L’Hote, Yves Brayer, Jean Aujame, and F. Tolles Chamberlain. Victor also worked with Carlo Socrate in Rome. In 1948 Victor Di Gesu was invited to submit two paintings for the most important San Francisco art event of the year at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. His oil painting, Torso of a Woman, was accepted for exhibition. For context, fellow artists who were also selected to exhibit included Bay Area Figurative artists Richard Diebenkorn, Frank Lobdell, David Park, Elmer Bischoff, and Hassel Smith, as well as Samuel Francis and Barbara Stevenson (whose pseudonym was Judith Deim).Returning from their long travels in 1956, the Di Gesu’s built a home in Pacific Grove. Distinguished Carmel Art Association Artist Member Armin Hansen promoted their work and sponsored them for juried membership into the CAA. An intuitive colorist, Di Gesu’s classical training and scientific research into color theory helped him create vivid, harmonious works which, while reminiscent of Matisse and Gauguin, retained a verve and spontaneity that were uniquely his own. In spite of his earlier pursuit of Post Impressionism over contemporary trends, Victor is best known for his abstract figurative and still life works. A prolific artist, Di Gesu was the recipient of numerous medals and juried awards, both in the United States and in France where he was awarded the Prix Othon Friesz. He exhibited widely including at the Louvre, the Exposition des Artistes Etrangeres, and the Grand Palais in the Salon d’Automne in Paris, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Monterey Peninsula Museum of Art, and Pacific Grove Art Center. In addition he taught art on the Monterey Peninsula from 1970 until his death in 1988. Carmel Art Association featured Victor Di Gesu in its 75th Anniversary Historical Exhibition (August 8 through September 4, 2002). This special show encompassed the CAA’s first seventy-five years by selecting one artwork from seventy-five of the CAA’s “late” Artist Members. These chosen artists represented those who had played the most integral roles in the Association’s history and legacy.