Lot Essay
Prior to the period of his Berkeley paintings, Diebenkorn had lived in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and Urbana, Illinois where he executed a series of paintings and drawings known as 'Albuquerque' and 'Urbana', respectively. These paintings suggested landscape and were characterized by strong, allusive line. In 1951, while in an airplane over the desert, Diebenkorn saw the expansive, inscribed surface below that resembled his Albuquerque paintings. This experience reinforced his interest in the aerial landscape, which he fused with references to New Mexico and Native American culture.
In 1952, Diebenkorn visited the Matisse retrospective at the Municipal Art Galleries in Los Angeles, which had a profound effect on his work. Later that year, he moved to Urbana to teach drawing and painting at the University of Illinois. The 'Urbana' paintings reflect the influence of Matisse's palette that would subsequently influence the Berkeley paintings. After a year in Urbana, Diebenkorn moved to Manhattan, where he rented a studio on East 12th Street. At that time, he began a friendship with Franz Kline and joined the Poindexter Gallery. Diebenkorn did not find New York compatible with his temperament, and, in the late summer of 1953, he abruptly returned to California.
He set up a studio in Berkeley and won a Rosenberg Fellowship which allowed him to devote himself full-time to painting and encouraged a new energy in his work. Prior to the Berkeley paintings, drawing had been essential to the themes of landscape, figure, and to the interpretation of his imagination. In the Berkeley series, the drawing merged into painting, and the work became more confident. The space of these very frontal compositions flowed cohesively and effortlessly, while being anchored within architectonic brushwork and a bold, Fauvist palette.
Berkeley #37, 1955, is an especially full and rich example from this important period. Diebenkorn's characteristic calligraphic line subversively packs color and form together into an evocative vision. This lushly rendered painting presents an interesting tension between horizontal and diagonal modulations of color, as well as a new sensitivity to light from both internal and external sources. These heightened, emotional brushstrokes and palette, along with the carefully considered configuration, make this painting among the most expressive and jubilant of Diebenkorn's career.
In 1952, Diebenkorn visited the Matisse retrospective at the Municipal Art Galleries in Los Angeles, which had a profound effect on his work. Later that year, he moved to Urbana to teach drawing and painting at the University of Illinois. The 'Urbana' paintings reflect the influence of Matisse's palette that would subsequently influence the Berkeley paintings. After a year in Urbana, Diebenkorn moved to Manhattan, where he rented a studio on East 12th Street. At that time, he began a friendship with Franz Kline and joined the Poindexter Gallery. Diebenkorn did not find New York compatible with his temperament, and, in the late summer of 1953, he abruptly returned to California.
He set up a studio in Berkeley and won a Rosenberg Fellowship which allowed him to devote himself full-time to painting and encouraged a new energy in his work. Prior to the Berkeley paintings, drawing had been essential to the themes of landscape, figure, and to the interpretation of his imagination. In the Berkeley series, the drawing merged into painting, and the work became more confident. The space of these very frontal compositions flowed cohesively and effortlessly, while being anchored within architectonic brushwork and a bold, Fauvist palette.
Berkeley #37, 1955, is an especially full and rich example from this important period. Diebenkorn's characteristic calligraphic line subversively packs color and form together into an evocative vision. This lushly rendered painting presents an interesting tension between horizontal and diagonal modulations of color, as well as a new sensitivity to light from both internal and external sources. These heightened, emotional brushstrokes and palette, along with the carefully considered configuration, make this painting among the most expressive and jubilant of Diebenkorn's career.