Untitled [abstraction] 1986

Richard Diebenkorn made this untitled abstraction on paper with paint, probably sometime in the 80s. Look at the yellow brushstrokes—they're so energetic, like scribbles trying to form a shape. The colors—that bright yellow, the soft pink, and the cool blue—bump up against each other, creating a vibe that's both playful and thoughtful. I imagine Diebenkorn in his studio, layering these colors, maybe scraping some away, building up a surface that feels both accidental and intentional. It's like he's searching for something, letting the process guide him. That single stroke of teal on the edge is so good! It’s so thin you can see the surface beneath it! Diebenkorn was always playing with these kinds of geometries and color relationships. He owes a debt to Matisse, but he makes it his own. It's all about the push and pull, the way one mark responds to another. Painting is a conversation between artists, each one building on what came before, and this little painting is part of that ongoing chat.