Randall Deihl: Portraits
Deihl’s portraits, especially his myriad self-portraits have the searing introspection, fine detail and rich coloring of the greatest Flemish masters, but they are decidedly of our century (Holbein never thought to tattoo an easel on his skin). Randy is well steeped in both the techniques and oeuvres of his forbears and his paintings are the richer for it. There is often an explicit nod to his hero’s—as he includes postcard portraits of Rembrandt or Kahlo, tacked to his studio walls within his own self-portraits. Or you might find Van Gogh serving burgers at the local diner. Sometimes Deihl’s homage is implicit, as he borrows a perspective from DeHooch, or a tree from Friedrich, or he turns a Breughel cross into a hilltown telephone pole.
Self-Portraits