Still Life with Orange Peel 1955

Editor: This is Richard Diebenkorn’s “Still Life with Orange Peel” from 1955, made with oil paint. It's giving me such a casual, almost fleeting impression, like a snapshot of a moment. What jumps out at you? Curator: The orange, particularly the peeled portion, immediately catches my eye. Beyond just representing citrus, the act of peeling speaks to an intentional exposure, a vulnerability. Peeling away a surface reveals something underneath. What do we learn, psychologically, from this presentation, rather than showing a complete fruit? Editor: That’s interesting – vulnerability. I hadn’t thought of it that way. The haphazard way the peel is placed contrasts sharply with the glass and bottle. Is there meaning in this contrast, perhaps between the natural and the artificial? Curator: Precisely. Consider also the striped cloth. Stripes, throughout art history, often denote boundaries, confinement, even transgression, if you think about convict uniforms, or in the robes of court jesters. Here, are the objects contained or are they resisting definition, placed on the striped fabric? Do these stripes become bars? What does the artist tell us about containment versus freedom in postwar America? Editor: So the objects are more than just everyday items; they carry cultural weight and tell us a story. This is amazing! I initially saw it as a simple composition. Curator: Yes! Remember, objects, colors, even the simplest forms carry with them echoes of our collective past. An artist like Diebenkorn layers these histories for us to unpack and contemplate, piece by piece. What do you take away now that is most meaningful? Editor: I think that everyday images carry meaning, and that the familiar can express something profound and culturally rooted, and this gives me new eyes to perceive art, not only Diebenkorn's work but other still-life painters too. Curator: Exactly, and hopefully it encourages others to delve into the potential symbolic meaning imbued in familiar forms as well.