Folsom Street Variations II (Grey), 1986

Original aquatint with drypoint, soap ground aquatint and flat bite printed in grey and black on wove paper bearing the ‘RIVES’ block letter watermark. Edition of 35, numbered in pencil lower left (plus a few additional proofs). Published by Crown Point Press, San Francisco; printed by Marcia Bartholme at Crown Point Press. Sheet size: 67.9 x 75.9 cm (26 3/4 x 29 7/8 in) Image size: 50.2 x 75.9 cm (19 3/4 x 29 7/8 in)// Folsom Street Variations II (Grey) is a luminous aquatint with drypoint and soap-ground aquatint that belongs to one of Diebenkorn's most sought-after print series. The composition divides the sheet into intersecting geometric fields of grey and black — rectangles, triangles, and trapezoids defined by ruled and freehand lines — that evoke the aerial perspectives and architectural geometry of his celebrated Ocean Park paintings. The grey palette, at once austere and subtly warm, reveals extraordinary tonal variation within its narrow range, each field differentiated by the density and texture of the aquatint grain. Printed on wove paper bearing the 'RIVES' watermark in an edition of thirty-five, this is a masterwork of abstract printmaking from the artist who bridged Bay Area figuration and Californian abstraction.