Provenance
The artist; sold shortly after it was completed in 1967 to (Poindexter Gallery, New York);[1] sold to private collection, United States; purchased by Mr. and Mrs. Lawrence Rubin, New York, by 1987;[2] purchased 18 November 1991 by NGA.[3]
[1] The provenance information was provided by Lawrence Rubin, per a note in NGA curatorial files.
[2] The painting was published as in the Rubin collection in Gerald Nordland, _Richard Diebenkorn_, New York, 1987: 142, repro.
[3] The acquisition was a partial gift/partial purchase.
Accession Number
1991.176.1
Medium
oil on canvas
Dimensions
overall: 146.69 × 156.85 cm (57 3/4 × 61 3/4 in.) | framed: 147.96 × 158.12 × 3.18 cm (58 1/4 × 62 1/4 × 1 1/4 in.)
Classification
Painting
Credit Line
Gift of the Collectors Committee and Mr. and Mrs. Lawrence Rubin
Tags
Painting Contemporary (after 1950) Oil Painting Canvas American
Background & Context
Background Story
Seated Figure with Hat from 1967 is a work from Diebenkorn's figurative period, the mid-1950s to late 1960s when he was producing the figurative paintings that alternated with his abstract work throughout his career. The seated figure subject demonstrates Diebenkorn's ability to combine figurative composition with the structural concerns of his abstract work—the figure is embedded in the architectural space that connects this painting to the abstract compositions of the Berkeley and Ocean Park series. The 1967 date places this near the end of Diebenkorn's figurative period, just before he began the Ocean Park series that would define his late work.
Cultural Impact
Seated Figure with Hat is important in Diebenkorn's oeuvre because it demonstrates the figurative work that alternated with his abstract painting throughout his career. The 1967 painting shows the structural concerns of Diebenkorn's abstract work embedded in figurative composition—the figure and its architectural space are organized with the same structural rigor that he brought to his abstract compositions.
Why It Matters
Seated Figure with Hat is Diebenkorn's figurative work with abstract structure: a seated figure embedded in architectural space organized with the same structural rigor that connects to his abstract Berkeley and Ocean Park series. The 1967 painting is near the end of his figurative period, just before the Ocean Park series began.
![Untitled [seated female nude looking left] [verso]](https://api.nga.gov/iiif/8e35be7a-e4ae-44b2-a64e-a9557e603d8a/full/400,/0/default.jpg)
