Richard Diebenkorn

M. Knoedler & Co., Inc., New York
John Berggruen Gallery, San Francisco
Harriet Walker Henderson, California (acquired from the above in 1982)
Sotheby's, New York, 15 November 2007, Lot 160 (consigned by the above)
Acquired from the above sale by the present owner 

New York, M. Knoedler & Co., Inc., Richard Diebenkorn, January 1982 (incorrectly titled)
San Francisco, John Berggruen Gallery, Richard Diebenkorn: Works on Paper 1970-1983, May - June 1983
New York, Museum of Modern Art; Los Angeles, County Museum of Art; San Francisco, Museum of Modern Art; Washington D.C., The Phillips Collection, Drawings of Richard Diebenkorn, November 1988 - December 1989, p. 180, illustrated in color (incorrectly titled)

Richard Newlin, Ed., Richard Diebenkorn: Works on Paper, Houston 1987, p. 187, illustrated in color
Gerald Nordland, Richard Diebenkorn, New York 1987, p. 212, illustrated 
Exh. Cat., London, Whitechapel Art Gallery, Richard Diebenkorn, 1991, fig. 1, pp. 12 and 14, illustrated
Gerald Nordland, Richard Diebenkorn, New York 2001, p. 222, illustrated in color
Hilarie M. Sheets, "Young at Art," Art and Auction, May 2008, p. 191, illustrated in color

This work is in very good condition overall. There is a slight undulation to the sheet, inherent to the artist’s working method. There are two artist’s pinholes in each corner of the work, one pinhole on the right edge 6-inches from the top and one pinhole on the left edge 5½-inches from the top. There are scatted pinpoint media accretions throughout which are likely from the time of execution. The sheet is hinged verso to the matte intermittently along the edges. Framed under Plexiglas.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

In 1981, in an act of rebellion against his large-scaled Ocean Park paintings, Richard Diebenkorn embarked on a new series of works on paper based on playing-card figures. The spade and club motifs had long held interest for the artist as he even commented “I had always used these signs in my work almost from my beginnings, but always peripherally, incidentally, and perhaps whimsically…I [then] discovered that these symbols had for me a much greater emotional charge than I realized” (the artist cited in Exh. Cat., New York, Whitney Museum of American Art, The Art of Richard Diebenkorn, 1997, p. 112). Reminiscent of the imaginary family crests he used to fabricate as a child, the Spades represent a return to Diebenkorn’s youth and, as John Elderfield asserts, “assume the original function of heraldic symbols as the means of personal identification…that recall early claims to self-identification” (Ibid., p. 113). In short, Diebenkorn’s Spades are essentially the closest to a self-portrait as the artist could allow using his iconic abstracted vocabulary.

The rounded contours and bold coloring of the royal blue and black-outlined spade in Untitled evoke an organic imagery that exudes quiet power and elegance. Fusing spatial and chromatic explorations, Diebenkorn has created a lyrical spontaneity in the curvilinear composition that occupies the space between figuration and abstraction with ease. Calling to mind the similarly transcendental geometric abstractionist work of Ellsworth Kelly, Diebenkorn deftly balances the tension between positive and negative space, reducing a simple landscape to a series of essential lines, forms and colors. Flanked by two jewel-toned curtains, the uncolored yet graphic and architectural spade is revealed theatrically, with a skewed perspective akin to that of Matisse, whose influence on Diebenkorn is uncontested.  Of Diebenkorn’s expert draftsmanship and mastery of line, Richard Newling writes, “The point of his radiant geometry is to transform visible signs into meaning and to compress meaning into the briefest possible indication of the character of a thing. His medium of transformation is light as it irradiates the colors and illuminates the forms” (Richard Newling, Ed., Richard Diebenkorn: Works on Paper, Houston 1987, p. 13). Indeed, Untitled is a paramount example of Diebenkorn's command over color and form showcases his ability to create iconic imagery in his late career.