When one thinks of Contemporary modern art in California, Richard Diebenkorn undoubtedly comes to mind. He can be linked to multiple art movements such as Bay Area Figuritive, Color Field, lyrical abstraction and abstract expressionism. His Ocean Park paintings are without question his most well known works, single-handedly capturing the essence of Southern California coastal life in the most sophisticated way possible, while seemingly linear to the eye, there is a wide openness and expansive space capturing the infinite ocean in an almost compartmentalized style. The Ocean Park series was an 18yr development and consists of approximately 135 paintings that began in 1967. I should mention that he was a Bay Area artist previous to living and working in Southern California but in being a Southern California native myself, I truly relate and identify with his SoCal series of works.
