Research: Richard Diebenkorn (1922 - 1993)

Richard Diebenkorn (1922 – 1993)

Diebenkorn used geometric shapes and colour to express the West Coast of the USA. A major exhibition of Diebenkorn’s paintings was held at the Royal Academy in 2015. Diebenkorn’s Ocean Park Series of the late 1960s are considered to be among the most important in recent art history, and have been described by the Boston Globe as “some of the most beautiful works of art created in America or anywhere else since the second World War” (quoted in the Royal Academy website).

The Royal Academy considers that, “A sense of the light and space of the West Coast infuse his paintings, revealing a great sensitivity to the environment in which they were created” (Royal Academy website).

Examples of the light, colour and geometric shapes used by Diebenkorn in his paintings are illustrated below.

Richard Diebenkorn, Seawall, 1957

Richard Diebenkorn Cityscape 1, 1963

I have used some of Diebenkorn’s ideas regarding shapes and abstraction in my own paintings, such as in Canal Study, below.

Canal study, oil on board

My colour palette however, in contrast to that of Diebenkorn, reflects the local landscape and weather patterns of the East Coast of England. I have therefore been more influenced in the use of colour by artists whose palette is more subtle and appropriate to my own ideas and locality. I look at one of those artists in my next post.