Richard Diebenkorn: The Berkeley Years, 1953-1966 is the first major exhibition and publication devoted to this extraordinarily productive period in the career of one of California's most famous artists. During the Berkeley period Diebenkorn fully developed his working methods, favored themes, and artistic identity; earned national recognition with his first New York exhibitions of abstract (1956) and representational (1958) works; and gained wider public acclaim in 1957 through the Art News article, "Diebenkorn Paints a Picture." Rejecting arbitrary allegiances to schools or movements, resistant to critical praise or censure, and dismissive of commercial concerns, Diebenkorn explored and extended the modernist tradition, making major contributions to the history of both abstraction and figuration. Hardcover, 256 pages.