The BMA and SFMOMA Co-Organize First Exhibition to Show the Influence of Henri Matisse on Richard Diebenkorn

Landmark exhibition will offer an unprecedented view of both artists

BALTIMORE, MD (January 12, 2016)—The first major exhibition to show the profound influence of French modern artist Henri Matisse (1869-1954) on the work of American artist Richard Diebenkorn (1922-1993) will premiere at The Baltimore Museum of Art (BMA) on October 23, 2016, before traveling to the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA) in the spring of 2017, after it opens its expansion on May 14, 2016. Co-organized by the BMA and SFMOMA, Matisse/Diebenkorn will feature over 90 objects—including more than 30 paintings and drawings by Matisse with 60 paintings and drawings by Diebenkorn from museums and private collections throughout the U.S. and Europe, as well as a selection from Diebenkorn’s personal library of books on Matisse. While Matisse’s impact on Diebenkorn has been noted in numerous art publications, there has never been a major exhibition pairing the two
artists’ work. Matisse’s influence on Diebenkorn is most visible in the younger artist’s figurative works from the 1950s and 1960s, but also evident in the structure, composition, and light of his earlier and later abstractions. Seeing the artists’ powerful works side-by-side reveals Diebenkorn’s deep connection to Matisse, though they never met, and presents a new view of both artists.

“San Francisco and Baltimore have brought together works of stunning brilliance to create an unprecedented visual narrative reaching across the 20th century,” said BMA Interim Co-Director Jay Fisher. “Matisse/Diebenkorn reveals connections that contribute to a fresh comprehension of the inventiveness of both artists and furthers the BMA’s goal of using the museum’s extraordinary collection of works by Matisse to bring forth new scholarship on the artist and his influence on others.”

“Matisse/Diebenkorn, which brings together two artists represented in great depth in SFMOMA’s collection, is really about artistic inspiration,” said SFMOMA Director Neal Benezra. “The opportunity to experience these extraordinary painters’ works juxtaposed for the first time promises to be nothing short of revelatory. Visitors to the BMA and SFMOMA will be given the opportunity to see how Diebenkorn’s lifelong passion for the French modernist’s paintings beautifully inspired so many aspects of his own work.”

The exhibition is organized chronologically through Diebenkorn’s career beginning with some of the first Matisse works that Diebenkorn viewed in the Palo Alto home of Sarah Stein, one of Matisse’s first patrons, and at the BMA, The Phillips Collection in Washington D.C. and The Museum of Modern Art in New York in the 1940s. These works introduced the motifs, palette and techniques that later influenced the American painter. A group of outstanding works from Diebenkorn’s Urbana and Berkeley periods (1953-1955) demonstrate the significant impact of his visit to a seminal Matisse retrospective in Los Angeles in 1952. Diebenkorn was taken by the color and structure of the oil paintings, and inspired by Matisse’s willingness to show evidence of his creative process.

A rich selection of exceptional paintings and drawings from Diebenkorn’s representational period (1955-1967) illustrate the artist’s shift from abstraction towards identifiable subject matter and will be paired with some of the French master’s own compositions that were of particular relevance. Diebenkorn continued to seek out Matisse’s example, most notably during a trip to the Soviet Union in 1964, where he saw the extensive collections of works by Matisse in the State Hermitage Museum and the Pushkin Museum. This was followed by a visit two years later to a large Matisse retrospective in Los Angeles, where he saw over 300 works by the French master. Two highly significant abstract Matisse paintings that Diebenkorn saw in the 1966 retrospective will be featured in the exhibition. Diebenkorn returned to abstraction soon after moving to Ocean Park in Santa Monica, California in 1967. He is best known for his color and light-filled abstract compositions produced there. The exhibition will conclude with a selection of his Ocean Park paintings (1968-1980) juxtaposed with a selection of Matisse’s most influential works.

Exhibition Organization and Sponsorship

About the Baltimore Museum of Art

Founded in 1914, the Baltimore Museum of Art (BMA) inspires people of all ages and backgrounds through exhibitions, programs, and collections that tell an expansive story of art—challenging long-held narratives and embracing new voices. Our outstanding collection of more than 97,000 objects spans many eras and cultures and includes the world’s largest public holding of works by Henri Matisse; one of the nation’s finest collections of prints, drawings, and photographs; and a rapidly growing number of works by contemporary artists of diverse backgrounds. The museum is also distinguished by a neoclassical building designed by American architect John Russell Pope and two beautifully landscaped gardens featuring an array of modern and contemporary sculpture. The BMA is located three miles north of the Inner Harbor, adjacent to the main campus of Johns Hopkins University, and has a community branch at Lexington Market. General admission is free so that everyone can enjoy the power of art.