Collection Information
Size: 7 Linear feet
Summary: The papers of New York art collector, dealer, and interior designer Hester Diamond measure 7.0 linear feet and date from 1950 to 2022. The collection comprises biographical materials containing diaries, home improvement and collection plans, Diamond's art history notes, and other items; art collection files consisting of appraisals, expenses, early business dealings conducted by Harold Diamond, and other records; correspondence from dealers offering artworks to Diamond; professional files documenting Diamond's mineral collection, her work on VISTAS, and other activities; printed materials consisting of clippings about Diamond, business cards, and a published book about the art collection; and photographic materials of home decor and works of art.
Biographical/Historical Note
Hester Diamond (1928-2020) was an art dealer, collector, and interior designer in New York, N.Y. Diamond was born in Bronx, N.Y. to David and Edith (née Wilbur) Klein. She received a B.A. degree in English from Hunter College in Manhattan where she frequented art museums. She married art dealer Harold Diamond in 1950. The couple shared a love of art and began collecting soon after they had married. After Harold's death in 1982, she married Ralph Kaminsky who died in 2012. In 2015, she married David S. Wilson. Along with managing the art collection, Diamond was an interior designer, a founder of VISTAS, Virtual Images of Sculpture in Time and Space, and was president of the Medici Archive Project. Diamond died in 2020 in Manhattan, N.Y.
Provenance
The collection was donated in 2022 by The Estate of Hester Diamond via David Diamond, co-executor.
Related Materials
The Archives of American Art also holds an oral history interview with Hester Diamond conducted on October 4-5, 2017 for the Archives of American Art.
Language Note
English .