On View April 2026 - November 2026

Much like nineteenth-century French artists such as Claude Monet and Paul Cézanne, Richard Diebenkorn (1922–1993) is closely associated with specific geographic locales. For Diebenkorn, whose movement between abstract and figurative modes enflamed critical tensions at midcentury, these locations include Berkeley and Ocean Park, California. What it means to be site-responsive, and how works of art shape perceptual and environmental consciousness, are two of the many questions raised by his body of work. Diebenkorn, for one, claimed that his place-bound series are more about “the name of the place rather than the place itself.”

This intimate exhibition considers Diebenkorn’s aesthetic commitments and creative evolution by reintroducing a highlight of the museum’s collections: Ocean Park #17 from 1968. On view for the first time since the new building opened in 2022, Ocean Park #17 glows after recent conservation treatment restored its surface luster. Accompanying this midcareer oil painting are Berkeley #2, an early masterwork on loan from a private collection, and several Diebenkorn prints.

_{Caption: Richard Diebenkorn (American, 1922–1993), Ocean Park, No. 17, 1968. Oil, charcoal on cotton duck, 81 3/4 x 73 5/8 in. (207.65 x 187.01 cm). Purchased with the aid of funds from the National Endowment for the Arts and matching funds from The University of Iowa Foundation, 1970.38}