KRASNER'S CORNUCOPIA and DIEBENKORN'S OCEAN PARK:

COMPARISON/CONTRAST

In the first example, Cornucopia by Lee Krasner, the wife of Jackson Pollack, a.k.a. "Jack the Dripper" and rendered in 1958, the visual form is extremely random and is filled with pale tones of brown, blue, green and pink, along with some dark red. One can barely make out three lines that run vertically from the bottom of the work, left to right; there are also swirls of color and a number of trapezoid/oblong forms mixed in with these swirls. Overall, this painting reflects feelings of disparity, confusion and detachment, at least from the perspective of the viewer. The personality of the painter is obviously similar to the above characteristics, due in part that Krasner was the wife of Pollack. Possibly, this painting was done on either an easel in the traditional way or on the floor, much like Pollack who dripped or swirled paint from a brush or some other type of object not usually used in painting. The title Cornucopia suggests that this painting is a mixture of many things, a conglomerate of ideas, feelings and expressions. This may account for the non-objective nature of this piece, meaning that it is purely subjective in nature.

In contrast, Richard Diebenkorn's Ocean Park #79, rendered in 1975, does not contain any swirls or masses of color, yet it does have various shades of blue, green, brown and red. The overall content is not clear, but it appears that Diebenkorn is attempting to portray his "Ocean Park" from an aerial perspective, meaning that the painting is a representation from far overhead, such as in an airplane. As Carter B. Horsley points out, this painting is characterized by "strong diagonals, often disposed like beams holding up the surface of a picture." However, Horsley maintains that anyone who thinks this painting is a landscape or cityscape "is far off the mark" for it was intended to be a "highly metaphorical spatial and chromatic exploration" ("Richard Diebenkorn," Internet). This works was most probably painted on an easel, yet the title does suggest that this painting is suppose to be a representation of land and water. Personally, I prefer this work to the Krasner piece because of its simplicity and purely subjective nature.

Horsley, Carter B. "Richard Diebenkorn." Art/Museums. Internet. Retrieved at http://www.thecityreview.com/dieben.htm.