Diana Horvath, Painter

Residence: Thoreau, New Mexico

Diana Horvath grew up in Portugal., the daughter of a Hungarian diplomat and an artist mother.  She started drawing and painting at an early age . Her early paintings were “plein air” paintings of the beautiful Portuguese seashore and countryside. After graduating from high school  she came to the U.S. and worked various  jobs in New York City in order to support herself .  After marriage and two children she resumed her art training  taking classes at the School of Visual Arts, the New School and the Art Students’ League in New York City in the 1970’s .  She exhibited in group shows in New York and later in New Jersey. Working mostly in oils she painted cityscapes, landscapes as well as portraits. She always worked from life, rarely using photographs in her studio to complete her paintings.

After moving to western New Mexico in 1994 to work for the Navajo Area Indian Health Service as an RN she became acquainted with the unique beauty of western New Mexico and eastern Arizona .  Living on the Navajo area in McKinley County her work has also been influenced by Navajo culture, beliefs and myths as well as by the talented Native artists she is surrounded by.  Now working almost exclusively in oils she often travels to remote locations in order to capture the magnificent ancient Pueblo ruins, the spectacular sunsets, the red mesas and sacred mountains. Native life and feasts also figure prominently in her paintings.

She has been a member of  Cibola Arts Council in Grants New Mexico in recent years, taking part in their group shows. She also has been affiliated with the Museum of New Mexico Foundation web site: "NM Creates".