Biography
I was born in 1943 in Annapolis, Maryland, USA with a visual handicap. An eye surgeon, Michael E. Lippman, M.D., put it this way, “Diana Le Page was examined in my office two weeks ago on June 9, 2004. She has a rare form of vitelliform macular degeneration since birth in both eyes. She has 20/400 vision in each eye and is truly legally blind. Her ability to portray form and colours in her art renderings is unfathomable to me as an eye surgeon.”
In 1963 I went to Paris, France and became apprenticed to two sculptors, Daria Gamsaragan and Lydia Luzanowfsky. Lydia was the head of the studio for Antoine Bourdelle who had been the head of the studio for Auguste Rodin. I remained in Paris for several years learning my profession.
I returned to America and lived in the Los Angeles, California area where in 1971 I was accepted into a La Cienega Boulevard art gallery. In addition to showing my work as a sculptor, they acted as my agent, procuring commissions to do monumental sculptures for site-specific public and private locations.
In 1978, I moved to Australia where I married my husband, Bill Le Page, and began drawing and painting Meher Baba, which I have continued to do ever since. Because Meher Baba represents for me all that is beautiful and truthful, the natural meditation of drawing and painting Him is a deeply absorbing experience; one that has added immeasurably to the richness of my life.
My goal as a portrait artist is to depict not only the physical appearance but to absorb and express the inner personality in order to give the best account of who this person is. Because I never met Meher Baba personally, I have approached the subject of painting Him through various avenues. For over forty years I have studied His life and teachings in books, spoken with those who knew and lived with Him, and immersed myself in the extensive collections of photos and films of Him that exist.
The most significant commission of this period has been the Mural Project for the Dining Hall at the Meher Pilgrim Retreat in Meherabad, India. It consists of 16 paintings, each 5ft. x 10ft. (1.5m. x 3m.), depicting times in Meher Baba’s life that particularly touched me.
In 1963 I went to Paris, France and became apprenticed to two sculptors, Daria Gamsaragan and Lydia Luzanowfsky. Lydia was the head of the studio for Antoine Bourdelle who had been the head of the studio for Auguste Rodin. I remained in Paris for several years learning my profession.
I returned to America and lived in the Los Angeles, California area where in 1971 I was accepted into a La Cienega Boulevard art gallery. In addition to showing my work as a sculptor, they acted as my agent, procuring commissions to do monumental sculptures for site-specific public and private locations.
In 1978, I moved to Australia where I married my husband, Bill Le Page, and began drawing and painting Meher Baba, which I have continued to do ever since. Because Meher Baba represents for me all that is beautiful and truthful, the natural meditation of drawing and painting Him is a deeply absorbing experience; one that has added immeasurably to the richness of my life.
My goal as a portrait artist is to depict not only the physical appearance but to absorb and express the inner personality in order to give the best account of who this person is. Because I never met Meher Baba personally, I have approached the subject of painting Him through various avenues. For over forty years I have studied His life and teachings in books, spoken with those who knew and lived with Him, and immersed myself in the extensive collections of photos and films of Him that exist.
The most significant commission of this period has been the Mural Project for the Dining Hall at the Meher Pilgrim Retreat in Meherabad, India. It consists of 16 paintings, each 5ft. x 10ft. (1.5m. x 3m.), depicting times in Meher Baba’s life that particularly touched me.