117
Irish Women Artists 1870 - 1970
Summer 2014
103. *DairineVanston (1903 - 1988)
Racecourse, Naas
Oil on canvas, 58.5 x 81cm
Signed and dated (19)’65
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Dairine Vanston studied at Goldsmith’s College in London before moving to Paris where she
studied under Roger Bissiere at the Academie Ranson where she met and married a young Costa
Rican named de Padilla. She moved with him to his native country but she later found out he was
an enthusiastic Fascist who took her to met his idol Mussolini with whom she danced. Unsurpris-
ingly the marriage did not last and she returned to Paris to study with André Lhote in the 1930s.
In Paris she met the Polish-Jewish painter Jankel Adler who she went to live with in the South of
France before the war before both escaping to Britian andVanston to Dublin . During the war
years Vanston became involved with theWhite Stag Group and exhibited regularly with the IELA
from their first exhibition in 1943. Not having a gallery she relied on Group exhibitions as an
outlet for her work . She was one of the founding members of Independent Artists group and also
a member of the Graphic Studio. For further information see “A Quiet Storm - the art of Dairine
Vanston” by Brian Fallon Irish Arts ReviewVol 23 No. 4.
