Combination, from Clubs and Spades

Diebenkorn created a cryptic series called Clubs and Spades as a middle ground between representation and abstraction. For this series of intaglio prints, he worked at Crown Point Press in San Francisco, a workshop that provided a second home to the artist. He took these symbols, common to playing cards, as his subjects. In one account, he explained that he painted them on shields as a child. While this points to his early interest, Diebenkorn never explained his fascination with these nearly mystical ciphers. Over the course of his career, he introduced this imagery both directly and indirectly. Often, he incorporated the forms into abstract works such as the monotypes for the Ocean Park series.