Ocean Park #90

Richard Diebenkorn’s Ocean Park paintings were completed in Santa Monica, California, where the artist maintained a studio from 1967 until 1988. The paintings demonstrate a sense of topography or mapping combined with subtle changes of atmosphere and light, achieved through gentle gradients of color and shifts in composition. One of the larger works in the series, Ocean Park #90 conjures the boardwalks, esplanades, and beaches found next to large bodies of water. Instead of representing the details of an area, however, Diebenkorn takes his painting to the edge of literal depiction and then pulls back. He maintains a space for continuous visual engagement by employing pictorial structures that never quite lock into a specific place.