untitled [cigarette smoker in an armchair]
1955-1967
Image not available — this artwork is under copyright
View on museum website →Medium
lithographic crayon on wove paper
Dimensions
overall: 35.6 x 43.2 cm (14 x 17 in.)
Classification
Drawing
Department
CG-W
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Gift of Phyllis Diebenkorn
Accession Number
2000.141.787
Art Historical Context
Richard Diebenkorn's *untitled [cig smoker in an armchair]* (1955–1967) captures an intimate, everyday moment through the loose, expressive marks of lithographic crayon on wove paper. Measuring 14 x 17 inches, this exemplifies Diebenkorn shift during the mid-20th century from Abstract Expressionism to the Bay Area Figurative movement. Created over a dozen years, it reflects his Berkeley studio practice, where he explored human forms with a blend of spontaneity and control, rendering the smoker’s relaxed pose in an armchair with gestural lines that evoke both presence and transience. The mediu...
About the Artist
Richard Diebenkorn
Richard Clifford Diebenkorn Jr. (1922-1993) was one of the premier American painters of the postwar era, whose deeply lyrical abstractions and figurative works evoked the shimmering light and wide-open spaces of California. Born in Portland, Oregon, and raised in San Francisco, Diebenkorn became a pivotal figure in elevating the status of California art on the international stage. His career encom...