Richard Diebenkorn Works on Paper at LA Louver Gallery

David and I spent some time yesterday at L.A. Louver Gallery in Venice. It was our first time there. When I found out that they were showing Diebenkorn and that the exhibit would be closing while I was in New Mexico, I made it a priority. 

It's always hard for me to choose favorites but above are some of the twenty something pieces on display. A press release from the gallery notes, "Over the course of his career, Diebenkorn maintained parallel practices of painting and drawing. While each activity held  separate  domains in  the  studio,  the  two  modes  of  making  were  in  constant  dialogue  –  the  artist  would  ponder a wall of pinned-up drawings just steps away from his painting easel. Whereas painting often required a sustained and  methodical approach,  working on  paper allowed for  immediacy  and experimentation. Diebenkorn  described drawing as “a sort of elaborate note-taking…a means to being transported and brought into real contact with things of importance to me.” 

Observing the works on paper in isolation from his paintings, we gain an intimate glimpse into the formal and informal aspects that lie at the core of his oeuvre. In the selected works on view, we not only see the profundity of Diebenkorn’s varied approaches, but also his seamless transitions between abstract and figurative motifs. His different places of residence also informed his work. While looking to the landscape, Diebenkorn never employed literal translations, but instead took cues from each locale in the development of his own visual language..."

If you are out of town or unable to make the show, you can see more of the work here.

I'm hoping to get to The Crocker Museum in Sacramento next month to see Diebenkorn: Beginnings. I'm thinking of driving up before my workshop

s at Maria's in Fremont the first weekend in December. It is due to be in Malibu in 2019 but I'd like the chance to see it now if I can make it. 

More Diebenkorn posts here.