Richard Diebenkorn (1922-1993)

"Clubs and spades have been in my work ever since I have been painting. They came on peripherally. I have tossed them in occasionally, but I have never confronted them directly. I used them this time because I wanted some sort of image that would hold its presence. An image that I could manipulate, and... I decided to develop those shapes. I knew they were going to be the main focus. You see, I knew those shapes had emotional charge for me, but I didn't expect that charge to last as long as it did" (R. Diebenkorn quoted by S. Bancroft, A View of Ocean Park, Richard Diebenkorn: The Ocean Park Series, Orange County Museum of Art, Newport Beach, 2011).