The Art of Richard Diebenkorn

Rating:
Summary: One of America's 20th century masters
Review: A great book that presents the vitality of Diebenkorn's best work. This book includes plates of all major phases of his oeuvre. While not a great admirer of his Ocean Park series, his expressionist Berkeley series and his figurative paintings and drawings are really stunning! He was a great colorist and a painter's painter. I would consider this book to be a must-have for any student of 20th century art...

Rating:
Summary: Great painter, Great book
Review: After reading a few of the other reviews I felt like throwing my 2 cents worth. First of all, I am amazed and love the fact that Diebenkorn has recieved so much press. Its a shame he was shunned from the New York art world when he was alive.(Although, I don't think he was terribly upset by this) I didn't even hear of him untill I went to England to do my M.A.! I bought my first book of his then in 94'. I think its whitechaple press. In any case, this book is much more complete with great- great photos and essays. It is pure joy. The biggest problem I have with the book is trying to keep it out of my studio, so as not to get paint on it. If you happen to go to the San Francisco MOMA check out their nice collection of his work!

Rating:
Summary: Viewing the diversity of this painting master was triumphant
Review: Being a painter myself, Richard Diebenkorn has influenced my life and work. To see the freshness of the paintings in this book was magical to me. The Ocean Park series is the most accessable works or the most widely shown works by Diebenkorn. To see the horizontal development of the works throughout Diebenkorn's life in one volume is spectacular. The book is an asset to anyone interested in seeing what it takes to make a fine painter. The drawings, the still-life paintings of tomatos and a knife with their luscious quality and subtle sexual symbolism is pure genius. The slow and subtle transition from landscape painting to completely abstracted landscape of the Ocean Park series is extremely useful visual material. The book is worth it for the plates alone, however, the writing is thought provoking and insightful.

Rating:
Summary: Real painting
Review: For an art lover Diebenkorn has the rare gift of sharing the sensation of painting. Lucious, sensual and pricise color harmonies, and those rythmic intervals. For a european it is another one of those deserving american miracles that such an artist gets a catalog and museum exhibition like this. The text is as precise as Diebenkorns color harmonies, and shows in depth great concern and understanding of his art and time.

Rating:
Summary: It is all about beauty
Review: I fell in love with Diebenkorn's paintings when I saw a picture
of one of them on Internet. I bought this book. It was
printed with high quality. His paintings are all about beauty.
He achieved the maximum freedom of expression with little
effort. But you should always try to see a real painting of him in musems. I was shocked the first time to see one Oecan Park.

Rating:
Summary: REALLY GOOD!
Review: Im one of Diebenkorn's fans, and this book is whatever you want if you like colorism, and pure painting! highly recommended!

Rating:
Summary: Wonderful Addition to Your Library
Review: There are plenty of colored pictures to view in this book. It offers a good idea of Diebenkorn's life, artistic path and family. A book I continue to enjoyed every time I open it's cover. It is money well spent.

Rating:
Summary: Comprehensive and Beautiful
Review: This book contains plates of most of Diebenkorn's well-known works -- all very high quality reproductions. If you are a student of abstract expressionism, you deserve this book. It is an absolute steal at the current price. This will likely become a collectors item.

Rating:
Summary: AN EXCELLENT BIOGRAPHY/CATALOG ON A GREAT AMERICAN ARTIST
Review: _____________________________________________________________________________

Richard Diebenkorn is quickly gaining stature as one of world's great painters of the 20th century. This excellent book by Jane Livingston is a replete biography - also discussing the development of his artistic skill by providing insight on Diebenkorn's philosophy of painting. Many of his own personal quotes and writings are drawn upon here as well as some examples of his consistently high quality work.

A wonderfullly versatile painter, Diebenkorn was a bit of a maverick in that he refused to allow himself to be limited by the type of work he pursued, being equally at home with figurative, landscape and abstract work. He refused to allow himself to fall into a mold and held to the belief that the work of an artist should be difficult and full of problems needing solution. This he did throughout his long and productive career, concentrating on different goals at various times.

Being somewhat isolated due to his west coast location, he managed to maintain a sense of freshness unique to himself and his lesser regional colleagues. This enabled him to avoid elitist and other constrictive restraints existing for those in the east. For example, Diebenkorn's abstract work - which reached a pinnacle in his Ocean Park Series - can be classified as Abstract Expressionism, but he really never was part of the crowd which included Pollock, Newman, Rothko, Still, De Kooning, Kline, et al. As a matter of fact, we can gather from comments made in this book that Diebenkorn conciously shunned this prospect. Several times in his career he was presented with opportunities to migrate to the east coast, but he always declined.

The greatly-sensitive, emotional and colorist proclivities which his paintings possess speak to his great love and affinity for the works of Van Gogh, Kandinsky, Matisse and other expressionist painters. This is where his study and great love of art drew from. So in some ways, his counterparts in the eastern U.S. and he arrived at similar ends, but by quite different means.

There is another good book out on Richard Diebenkorn entitled simply RICHARD DIEBENKORN by Gerald Nordland which I recommend along with this one. Nordland's book is superior by way of quantity and quality of reproductions of the artist's work, but this book, Livingston's, is slightly superior in its narrative content (just my opinion). Both are 5 star books.

Rating:
Summary: AN EXCELLENT BIOGRAPHY/CATALOG ON A GREAT AMERICAN ARTIST
Review: _____________________________________________________________________________

Richard Diebenkorn is quickly gaining stature as one of world's great painters of the 20th century. This excellent book by Jane Livingston is a replete biography - also discussing the development of his artistic skill by providing insight on Diebenkorn's philosophy of painting. Many of his own personal quotes and writings are drawn upon here as well as some examples of his consistently high quality work.

A wonderfullly versatile painter, Diebenkorn was a bit of a maverick in that he refused to allow himself to be limited by the type of work he pursued, being equally at home with figurative, landscape and abstract work. He refused to allow himself to fall into a mold and held to the belief that the work of an artist should be difficult and full of problems needing solution. This he did throughout his long and productive career, concentrating on different goals at various times.

Being somewhat isolated due to his west coast location, he managed to maintain a sense of freshness unique to himself and his lesser regional colleagues. This enabled him to avoid elitist and other constrictive restraints existing for those in the east. For example, Diebenkorn's abstract work - which reached a pinnacle in his Ocean Park Series - can be classified as Abstract Expressionism, but he really never was part of the crowd which included Pollock, Newman, Rothko, Still, De Kooning, Kline, et al. As a matter of fact, we can gather from comments made in this book that Diebenkorn conciously shunned this prospect. Several times in his career he was presented with opportunities to migrate to the east coast, but he always declined.

The greatly-sensitive, emotional and colorist proclivities which his paintings possess speak to his great love and affinity for the works of Van Gogh, Kandinsky, Matisse and other expressionist painters. This is where his study and great love of art drew from. So in some ways, his counterparts in the eastern U.S. and he arrived at similar ends, but by quite different means.

There is another good book out on Richard Diebenkorn entitled simply RICHARD DIEBENKORN by Gerald Nordland which I recommend along with this one. Nordland's book is superior by way of quantity and quality of reproductions of the artist's work, but this book, Livingston's, is slightly superior in its narrative content (just my opinion). Both are 5 star books.