Lithograph in colours, 1983, on Arches Cover paper, signed and dated in pencil, numbered from the edition of 250, printed by Gemini G.E.L., Los Angeles, published by The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, California, 101.6 x 68.6 cm

Richard Diebenkorn was fascinated with the motifs of clubs and spades ever since childhood, when he would paint them as heraldic devices on homemade shields. They made an appearance in several drawings of the 50s and 60s, but it was only in 1980 that he began to explore the forms in a more sustained way in a large number of paintings, prints and works on paper.

"In 1981 I did accept both a theme and a motif in the form of the black playing card pips, clubs and spades. I had used these signs in my work almost from my beginnings, but always peripherally, incidentally, and perhaps whimsically. So at this point I dealt with them directly - as theme and variation. I discovered that these symbols had for me a much greater emotional charge than I realized. I had intended to involve myself with them only briefly but found that their impetus kept me with them almost a year and a half. " - Richard Diebenkorn

This print was published by The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, California, in the portfolio ‘Eight by Eight to Celebrate the Temporary Contemporary’. The portfolio was produced to help raise funds for the Los Angeles Museum of Contemporary Art which was founded in 1979. It featured Richard Diebenkorn, Sam Francis, David Hockney, Ellsworth Kelly, Robert Rauschenberg, Niki de Saint Phalle, Jean Tinguely and Andy Warhol.