Richard Diebenkorn (American, 1922-1993). Oil on canvas painting titled "Reclining Nude II" depicting a nude woman against a pale blue background, 1959. Initialed and dated along the upper left.

Provenance: Poindexter Gallery, New York, 1961; B.C. Holland Gallery, Chicago; Acquavella Galleries, New York, and John Berggruen Gallery, San Francisco, 1986; James Corcoran Gallery, Los Angeles, 1987; B.C. Holland Gallery, Chicago, 1991; Private Connecticut Collection, 1991; Private Minnesota Collection.

Exhibition: Pasadena Art Museum, California, "Richard Diebenkorn," September 6 - October 6, 1960 (catalog number 49); California Palace of the Legion of Honor, San Francisco, "Recent Paintings by Richard Diebenkorn," October 22 - November 27, 1960 (catalog number 25); Brooks Memorial Art Gallery, Memphis, "Art Today," March 21 - April 28, 1963 (catalog number 8, illustrated).

Reference: "Richard Diebenkorn: The Catalogue Raisonne," Volume III. Edited by Jane Livingston and Andrew Liguori. New Haven: Yale University Press in association with the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco and the Richard Diebenkorn Foundation, 2016. Pg. 350, number 2686, RD1273.

Lot Essay:
Born in Portland, Oregon, Richard Diebenkorn's artistic journey began during his formative years in San Francisco, where he was exposed to the vibrant artistic community that would later shape his oeuvre. It has been said that from the age of four or five, he was continuously drawing. His early mentors include Victor Arnautoff and Daniel Mendelowitz. Mendelowitz and Diebenkorn shared a passion for the works of Edward Hopper, whose influence can be felt in his earliest works.

While serving in the Marine Corps during World War II, he came into contact with the works of Pierre Bonnard, Georges Braque, Henri Matisse, Joan Miro, Pablo Picasso, and Robert Motherwell. This spurred his interest in abstract Surrealism and he began to experiment with abstract painting. The presently offered painting is an excellent example of his move from strictly abstract expressionism to a more representational style.

Diebenkorn's artistic trajectory is marked by a captivating interplay between abstraction and representation, characterized by his iconic use of geometric forms, expressive brushwork, and a nuanced understanding of color and space. His early abstract works, influenced by the likes of Willem de Kooning and Mark Rothko, evolved into a more figurative style in the 1950s, known as the Bay Area Figurative Movement. This shift showcased his ability to seamlessly blend the abstract with the representational, capturing the essence of California landscapes and urban scenes with a unique blend of introspection and immediacy.
Sight; height: 15 1/4 in x width: 16 1/2 in. Framed; height: 22 in x width: 22 1/4 in x depth: 2 in.

The colors are bold and bright and the surface appears to be stable overall. There is craquelure throughout the work. Some very light wear along the extreme edges. Along the verso there is an area of red accretions that do not appear to affect the recto, possibly original to the artistic process. When viewed under UV light there were no apparent areas of restoration or inpainting. Light wear to the frame.