“Richard Diebenkorn’s fame as a painter continues to grow. Here he’s in his Oakland studio, but I first knew him in Sausalito, where a group of artists would sit around with a jug of Gallo’s Heavy Burgundy and moan about how badly they were treated. Diebenkorn, always the lanky kid in the corner of that group, never joined in on the complaining. A burning cigarette was his constant companion in almost every shot I ever made of him”
~ Fred Lyon
“I don’t go into the studio with the idea of “saying” something. What I do is face the blank canvas and put a few arbitrary marks on it that start me on some sort of dialogue”
~ Richard Diebenkorn
Fred Lyon is primarily known as the great chronicler of the city of San Francisco. What is less known is that he was also a truly great portrait photographer. Here he portrays one of the greatest painters to have ever lived there. His words echo Diebenkorn’s own words about his practice. They were good friends and shared many common interests.
