Portrait of Richard Diebenkorn 1958

David Park made this "Portrait of Richard Diebenkorn" with oil on canvas. Check out those brushstrokes, they are juicy and direct. It feels like he was really going for it, not too fussy. You can almost feel the energy of Park making the painting. Looking closely, the paint is thick and opaque. The mouth is great. It’s a bunch of red swipes that somehow turn into lips. The colors aren’t blended so much as they sit next to each other. Up close, it’s almost abstract, but then your eye pulls back and there’s Diebenkorn. You can see Park thinking through the paint. It’s like you’re watching him construct the image right in front of you. Both artists were part of the Bay Area Figurative Movement, and you can see a bit of Matisse in this. It’s that playful, expressive use of color and line to capture a likeness, but also to make a painting that’s alive. It’s not about perfection, it’s about the process.