Richard Clifford Diebenkorn (American, 1922 to 1993)
By 1955, Richard Diebenkorn abandoned his early, abstract style in favor of representational paintings, and he frequently painted figural images. He studied the human form through drawing with David Park and Elmer Bischoff, friends and former teachers. His paintings of figures were intended to evoke a similar set of emotions as his abstract works and included the same stylistic elements of bold colors and flattened spatial planes. They were not intended as likenesses but rather gestures. The facial features were minimized and the compositions usually included only one or two figures, either seated or standing, in a geometric pose.
Information courtesy of Skinner, Inc. May 2007