Blue Surround

California Bay Area Figurative artist Richard Diebenkorn's present work, Blue Surround is perhaps the most important print in this collection, and is recognized as one of the artist's seminal works. Two drawings and twenty-three working proofs were executed in the artist's careful progression to this final product. "Blue Surround is perhaps the most ambitious intaglio print that Diebenkorn had conceived through 1982. It is an orchestral performance in that he has elected to utilize the full surface of the plate for his colors -- green, salmon, yellow, turquoise, and a number of blues in the proscenium-like 'surround.' No doubt the experince of printing color in 1980 and 1981 inspired him to ask as much of himself and the printers as he could." (Gerald Nordland, Diebenkorn Graphics 1981-1988, Billings, Montana: Yellowstone Art Center, 1989, p. 13)