Corner of Studio – Sink 1963

Richard Diebenkorn made this sink painting, we don't know when, using a muted palette to capture a humble corner of his studio. It's like he’s showing us the backstage of the art-making process, the spot where the brushes get cleaned. The texture in this piece is something else, you can almost feel the way the paint was dragged and layered. Look at the way he's rendered the pipes beneath the sink, it’s not about being precise, but about getting the feel of the thing, the clunky, real weight of it. And the light, how it hits that sink! It's not a bright, sunny light, but a quiet, contemplative kind of light. Diebenkorn reminds me a bit of Giorgio Morandi, both had this way of finding the sublime in the ordinary, of turning everyday objects into something poetic. This painting is an invitation to slow down, to look closely, and to find beauty in the unexpected.