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Tuesday, November 1, 2011

Ocean Park: A Review by Adam Rowlett

A review of "Richard Diebenkorn: The Ocean Park Series" by Adam Rowlett
Richard Diebenkorn, Green, 1986
Image courtesy The Estate of Richard Diebenkorn*

The Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth
is currently featuring a large exhibition of paintings, prints, and drawings from Richard Diebenkorn's Ocean Park series.

Though Diebenkorn was known primarily as a painter, the exhibition also includes a number of his prints. The selection of his earlier work in monotype and drypoint is sparse and entirely in black and white, contrasting sharply against the pastel palette in his paintings. These works were somewhat dwarfed, however, being smaller in size than the large-scale paintings that dominated the surrounding space toward the front of the exhibit. However, the farthest-back room features an impressive handful of color intaglio, lithography, and woodcut prints. Though arranged in a more intimate space, these pieces seem to have been given room to breathe––and the distinctly southern Californian palette aids in lightening the space.

Richard Diebenkorn, "Richard Diebenkorn: The Ocean Park Series," Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, Fort Worth, Texas, September 24, 2011 – January 15, 2012

This review was completed for ASTU 5900: Graduate Special Problems (Etching) taught by associate professor Lari Gibbons in fall 2011. Additional reviews will be released in the coming weeks.

* Full image caption information:
Richard Diebenkorn, Green, 1986. Color aquatint, spit-bite aquatint, soap-ground aquatint, and drypoint on Somerset paper; ed. 60. Image: 45 x 35 3/8 in. (114.3 x 89.8 cm); sheet: 53 3/4 x 40 3/4 in. (136.4 x 103.5 cm)
Published by Crown Point Press
Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, Crown Point Press Archive, Gift of Crown Point Press
© The Estate of Richard Diebenkorn
Image courtesy The Estate of Richard Diebenkorn