Richard Diebenkorn could fairly be called "versatile." He was one of the first generation of artists to embrace abstract expressionism. In the early 1950s, he rediscovered his love for figurative art. And both parts show in his work. Seen above, the grass and the sky are two giant slabs of color (green and blue, respectively) which have just remembered that they can represent things.
Most of these pictures take place under the California sun. Maybe the north of California―Diebenkorn was from San Francisco―but bright and beach-adjacent nonetheless. And yet he shades your view, keeps his figures at a distance. You might never know what these people are thinking.
2 comments:
Diebenkorn is another of those artists you've drawn my attention to for the first time. Looking at this one and a few similar in style on his website it's almost as though his models are set in post modern landscapes and interiors - the angles, shapes and colors of the human manipulated environment that serve to isolate individuals. It's a very interesting combination of styles.
When it comes to depicting solitude in recent western culture my particular favorite artist is Edward Hopper; while he's not known as an abstract expressionist his work does elicit detachment from human company.
That's a very savvy observation. Diebenkorn lived most of his life in California, and he was productive during a time when that state's land was in a high state of development. (Sort of the origin story of urban sprawl in this country). That seems to be reflected in his work, in something of an ambivalent manner.
I would guess he was influenced on some level by Hopper as well. Hopper's an interesting artist on a number of levels. His wife Josephine was an accomplished painter in her own right, as well as being a model in a number of Edward's paintings.
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