Ramon Dilley artwork • painting • for sale Cannes, Le Carlton

Ramon y Romero Gomez, who later chose the name Ramon Dilley for himself, was born in Madrid in 1933. Three years later, his family fled with him to France at the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War. They settled in Royan, a fashionable seaside city frequented by 'well-to-do' Parisians. The carefree glamor and the combination of the sea and fashionable visitors would remain an important source of inspiration for Dilley throughout his painting career. He studied at the Ecole du Louvre in Paris, a more theoretical than practical art education, but this did not stand in his way. His oeuvre includes colorful representations of the mundane life on the southern French coast and of the rich 'beau monde' who resided there. The Carlton Hotel can be seen in the background of this painting, located at the La Croisette. Built in 1912, the hotel was and is one of the most prestigious hotels on the Côte d'Azur. During the annual Cannes Film Festival (since 1946), producers and directors meet here and it is the place for interviews and photo shoots. It is said that the domes are modeled on the breasts of La Belle Otero, a Spanish dancer and mistress of countless dignitaries and artists, who spent a lot of time on the Côte d'Azur in the early twentieth century. In 1955, Grace Kelly and Prince Reinier III of Monaco met at the hotel during the Cannes Film Festival.