Richard Diebenkorn (1922–1993) was a major American painter whose career moved between abstraction and representation. Born in Portland, Oregon, and raised in San Francisco, he studied at Stanford University and the California School of Fine Arts (later known as San Francisco Art Institute). His early paintings were influenced by Abstract Expressionism, but after settling in Berkeley in 1955, Diebenkorn turned toward representation. Along with David Park and Elmer Bischoff, he became a leading figure in the Bay Area Figurative movement, combining expressive brushwork and color with figures, interiors, still lifes and landscapes. Henri Matisse was a particularly important influence, inspiring Diebenkorn’s approach to color, composition and the relationship between interior and exterior space. In 1966, Diebenkorn moved to Santa Monica and returned to abstraction. Throughout his career, Diebenkorn allowed revisions, erasures and underlying lines to remain visible, making the process of painting an integral part of the finished work.