The Art of Richard Diebenkorn

Richard Diebenkorn has finally achieved the status of Modern Master, but his success was only secured later in his life and after his death. Although he was at first an Abstract Expressionist artist who painted as convincingly as Still, Rothko, Kline and Motherwell, he was too much identified with the Bay Area, and therefore he did not have the imprimatur of the New York critics. Then, in the 1950s, he was viewed as having betrayed the New York Abstract Expressionists, when he turned to figurative painting with David Park and Elmer Bischoff. Eventually, until his death, he returned to abstraction with his much-acclaimed "Ocean Park" series. And then the critics finally realized what had eluded them for years: That Diebenkorn painted abstract realism, leaning more to one and then the other, all his life. Jane Livingston does a fine job of portraying the life of Richard Diebenkorn through his stunning paintings, which exemplify fire beneath the calm. Be sure to read the Norland book as well, since his book is still the seminal book on Diebenkorn.

I fell in love with Diebenkorn's paintings when I saw a pictureof one of them on Internet. I bought this book. It wasprinted with high quality. His paintings are all about beauty. He achieved the maximum freedom of expression with littleeffort. But you should always try to see a real painting of him in musems. I was shocked the first time to see one Oecan Park.

After reading a few of the other reviews I felt like throwing my 2 cents worth. First of all, I am amazed and love the fact that Diebenkorn has recieved so much press. Its a shame he was shunned from the New York art world when he was alive.(Although, I don't think he was terribly upset by this) I didn't even hear of him untill I went to England to do my M.A.! I bought my first book of his then in 94'. I think its whitechaple press. In any case, this book is much more complete with great- great photos and essays. It is pure joy. The biggest problem I have with the book is trying to keep it out of my studio, so as not to get paint on it. If you happen to go to the San Francisco MOMA check out their nice collection of his work!

A great book that presents the vitality of Diebenkorn's best work. This book includes plates of all major phases of his oeuvre. While not a great admirer of his Ocean Park series, his expressionist Berkeley series and his figurative paintings and drawings are really stunning! He was a great colorist and a painter's painter. I would consider this book to be a must-have for any student of 20th century art...

Being a painter myself, Richard Diebenkorn has influenced my life and work. To see the freshness of the paintings in this book was magical to me. The Ocean Park series is the most accessable works or the most widely shown works by Diebenkorn. To see the horizontal development of the works throughout Diebenkorn's life in one volume is spectacular. The book is an asset to anyone interested in seeing what it takes to make a fine painter. The drawings, the still-life paintings of tomatos and a knife with their luscious quality and subtle sexual symbolism is pure genius. The slow and subtle transition from landscape painting to completely abstracted landscape of the Ocean Park series is extremely useful visual material. The book is worth it for the plates alone, however, the writing is thought provoking and insightful.