I'm smitten: Artist Richard Diebenkorn

"Reality has to be digested, it has to be transmuted by paint. It has to be given a twist of some kind."

- Richard Diebenkorn

Ocean Park #27, 1970, oil on canvas

Ocean Park #24, 1969, oil on canvas

Today is late American artist Richard Diebenkorn's birthday!  His work is some of my all-time favorite, especially his later life Ocean Park Series.  His Ocean Park palette is so beautiful - cheery and soothing at the same time.  (Like a sunny view of the Pacific itself?)

I appreciate all different styles of art, but my best-loved painting style is abstract expressionism.  It's my favorite to have on my own walls, as I find that - unlike realism - I don't grow tired of looking at it, because I can imagine I see new things in it everyday.  Obviously, art preference is highly personal and subjective, but I tend to skew towards geometric abstract like Diebenkorn and Klee and Rothko, because I find the geometric aspect is soothing, compared with some of the wilder, more chaotic abstracts from artists like Pollock.

Ocean Park #79, 1975, oil on canvas

I was pretty excited to see several of his pieces last year at SFMOMA, where my cool travel buddy  Diane was kind enough to indulge me for several hours...

all art by Richard Diebenkorn, photo by Jenna Adams

I even schlepped a print of the one on the right (Ocean Park #19, 1968, oil on canvas) home from San Francisco.  I don't think the flight attendant was too thrilled with me!  Next time I'll order online. ;)