Matthew Ballou looks at Richard Diebenkorn's Ocean Park paintings through the lens of "provisional painting."

Ballou writes that "To get a clear view of Diebenkorn's connection with provisionality one must think about the sense of compositional balance exemplified in the Ocean Park Series. It is a balance that is hard-won yet still teetering on the edge of disarray. Though the works are in some ways locked, they flicker and undulate; these are compositions that don’t always feel as if rightness was absolutely achieved."

Richard Diebenkorn: The Ocean Park Series will be on view at the Orange County Museum of Art, Newport Beach, California from February 26 – May 27, 2012.