A hat. A pair of gloves. A thread connecting Richard Diebenkorn and Henri Matisse 👒🎨 Bay Area painter Richard Diebenkorn first saw Matisse’s iconic portrait “Femme au chapeau” in Palo Alto, as a Stanford undergraduate in 1943. The experience sparked a career-long fascination with Matisse, shaping the direction of his work. In “Woman in Hat and Gloves,” Diebenkorn portrays his wife Phyllis in accessories that echo those of Matisse’s celebrated sitter. Matisse’s “Femme au chapeau” has served as a provocation and source of inspiration for many artists over the years, including others who were part of the Bay Area Figurative movement like Joan Brown and David Park. See the many ways artists have responded to the portrait’s subject, style, and sheer audacity in “Matisse’s Femme au chapeau: A Modern Scandal.” — Richard Diebenkorn, “Woman in Hat and Gloves,” 1963; private collection; © 2026 Richard Diebenkorn Foundation / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York; photo: courtesy Sotheby...