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Lot Essay
This work will be included in the forthcoming Richard Diebenkorn catalogue raisonné of paintings and drawings being prepared by the Estate of Richard Diebenkorn.
Richard Diebenkorn's Untitled (Ocean Park) from 1981 is a stunning painting on paper from the eponymous series for which the artist is best known. Begun in 1968, the Ocean Park works were instantly acclaimed as major achievement--Diebenkorn would mine its rich possibilities for the remainder of his career.
The series is directly indebted to Henri Matisse's near abstract paintings from 1909-1916, in which the French master painted spare interiors that became rigid yet sensuous geometric patterns. Diebenkorn's Ocean Park work's take Matisse's ideas even further in their abstract quality, yet retain representational references, most particularly to bodies of water and a bird's eye view of landscape.
Diebenkorn created drawings and paintings on paper throughout his career, and gave them the same care and deliberation as his works on canvas. They are not studies for larger paintings or experiments, but independent and completely realized works. Writing on Diebenkorn, John Elderfield wrote, "Each work on paper is a prolonged meditation on what drawing can accomplish at the threshold of painting" (The Drawings of Richard Diebenkorn, New York, p. 52).
Working in his preferred sheet size of 25 x 38 inches, Untitled (Ocean Park) has a pronounced horizontality, referencing the limitless horizon of the ocean. The rich blue expanse, topped off with sharp racing stripes also have a flag-like quality. Diebenkorn would often incorporates sly references to other artists in his paintings--notice the curvilinear reference to Miro in the upper right (by way of his own use of the "spade" shape in his previous works). As in all of the best Ocean Parks, Diebenkorn plays with an overall flatness, which is contrasted against certain areas (particularly along the top) which appear to recede in space.
Diebenkorn in his studio, 1980, Santa Monica, photograph by Phyllis Gilman Diebenkorn. Courtesy the Estate of Richard Diebenkorn
Richard Diebenkorn's Untitled (Ocean Park) from 1981 is a stunning painting on paper from the eponymous series for which the artist is best known. Begun in 1968, the Ocean Park works were instantly acclaimed as major achievement--Diebenkorn would mine its rich possibilities for the remainder of his career.
The series is directly indebted to Henri Matisse's near abstract paintings from 1909-1916, in which the French master painted spare interiors that became rigid yet sensuous geometric patterns. Diebenkorn's Ocean Park work's take Matisse's ideas even further in their abstract quality, yet retain representational references, most particularly to bodies of water and a bird's eye view of landscape.
Diebenkorn created drawings and paintings on paper throughout his career, and gave them the same care and deliberation as his works on canvas. They are not studies for larger paintings or experiments, but independent and completely realized works. Writing on Diebenkorn, John Elderfield wrote, "Each work on paper is a prolonged meditation on what drawing can accomplish at the threshold of painting" (The Drawings of Richard Diebenkorn, New York, p. 52).
Working in his preferred sheet size of 25 x 38 inches, Untitled (Ocean Park) has a pronounced horizontality, referencing the limitless horizon of the ocean. The rich blue expanse, topped off with sharp racing stripes also have a flag-like quality. Diebenkorn would often incorporates sly references to other artists in his paintings--notice the curvilinear reference to Miro in the upper right (by way of his own use of the "spade" shape in his previous works). As in all of the best Ocean Parks, Diebenkorn plays with an overall flatness, which is contrasted against certain areas (particularly along the top) which appear to recede in space.
Diebenkorn in his studio, 1980, Santa Monica, photograph by Phyllis Gilman Diebenkorn. Courtesy the Estate of Richard Diebenkorn