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The following six lots are a strong representational group of Richard Diebenkorn's work as a printmaker. Initially Diebenkorn was concerned that the techniques involved in making prints would hamper his usual approach to image making, which was intensely ruminative and involved working through constant revision of a subject. Paradoxically, printmaking proved precisely suited to this approach and over a period of 45 years Diebenkorn produced a substantial body of graphic work which forms an essential part of his art.
The group includes outstanding examples of the artist's Ocean Park series. In 1966 Diebenkorn moved to Santa Monica, taking a studio on Ocean Park Road which abuts directly onto the Pacific. Drawing on his experience of working as a cartographer, taking trips by helicopter over the desert to record aerial views, Diebenkorn began to 'map' the geometry of the coast outside his studio. The Ocean Park works are characterized by an organized structure of lines, weighted towards the edges and with an atmospheric center, the whole modulated by a surface built up with veils of carefully balanced color.
The twenty five year history of Diebenkorn's exploration of this most celebrated theme can be seen on the following pages: Untitled (Ocean Park) (lot 419) dates from 1969 and is the artist's earliest graphic interpretation of the theme, whereas Touched Red (lot 423) and High Green, Version II (lot 424) date from 1992-93, the last years of the artist's life. Touched Red in particular offers a fascinating mature approach to Ocean Park with the essential construction depicted in a surprisingly soft ambient palette.
Green (lot 422) is widely acclaimed as Diebenkorn's graphic masterpiece and the culmination of the entire exploration of the Ocean Park print series. Composed on a monumental scale, it most closely approaches the large-scale 'portal-format' of his Ocean Park painting series. Printing each impression involved the artist working with a team of five printers over several hours. The result is finely balanced fields of color and veils of wash which are a testament to the immensely complex task of creation. Green is an orchestrated performance which recalls the critic John Russell's description of the Ocean Park series as "eye-music of quite another kind.." (Richard Diebenkorn, The Ocean Park Series: Recent Work, London, Marlborough Fine Art Ltd., 1973)
RICHARD DIEBENKORN (1922-1993)
Untitled (Ocean Park)
Details
RICHARD DIEBENKORN (1922-1993)
Untitled (Ocean Park)
lithograph in colors, 1969, on wove paper, signed and dated in pencil, numbered 30/90, published by Collector's Press, San Francisco, with their blindstamp, the full sheet, occasional creasing at the sheet edges, surface rippling due to hinges on the reverse, otherwise generally in good condition, framed
S. 24 x 18¾ in. (610 x 475 mm.)
Untitled (Ocean Park)
lithograph in colors, 1969, on wove paper, signed and dated in pencil, numbered 30/90, published by Collector's Press, San Francisco, with their blindstamp, the full sheet, occasional creasing at the sheet edges, surface rippling due to hinges on the reverse, otherwise generally in good condition, framed
S. 24 x 18¾ in. (610 x 475 mm.)
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