Downtown Berkeley in Alameda County, California — The American West (Pacific Coastal)

Site of David Park’s Studio

Berkeley History

Photographed by Barry Swackhamer, January 28, 2012

1. Site of David Park’s Studio Marker

Inscription. In the 1940s painter David Park (1911-1960) had a studio in a brick building that once occupied this site. Despite a well-received exhibition of his abstract expressionist works at the San Francisco Museum of Art in 1948, Park rejected abstraction and took many of his paintings of the previous three years to the city dump. Discovering a new freedom in “the natural development of the painting,” Park began creating richly colored and textured works depicting the human figure and scenes from everyday life. In his shift from abstraction lay the origin of what subsequently came to be known as the Bay Area Figurative style. Soon adapted by fellow Berkeley painters Richard Diebenkorn, Elmer Bischoff, and others, this style became an important West Coast postwar indigenous school of art.

Erected 2003 by Berkeley Historical Plaque Project.

Topics. This historical marker is listed in this topic list: Arts, Letters, Music. A significant historical year for this entry is 1948.

Location. 37° 52.274′ N, 122° 16.163′ W. Marker is in Berkeley, California, in Alameda County. It is in Downtown Berkeley. It is on Addison Street,

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on the right when traveling east. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 2025 Addison Street, Berkeley CA 94704, United States of America. Touch for directions.

Regionally, this marker is in California’s San Francisco Bay Area

and on the Coast Ranges.

It is also on the American Pacific Coast.

Globally, it is in North America,

on the Ring of Fire,

in the Pacific Rim,

in the Western Hemisphere,

in the Western World,

and in the Anglosphere.

Historically, it finds itself in what was once New Spain

and also Mexico’s Alta California.

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker: Golden Sheaf Bakery Annex (a few steps from this marker); S.H. Kress Co. Store (within shouting distance of this marker); Heywood Building (about 300 feet away, measured in a direct line); Francis Kittredge Shattuck Building (about 300 feet away); Chamber of Commerce / Wells Fargo Bank (about 400 feet away); Roos Bros. Building (about 400 feet away); Shattuck Square (about 500 feet away); F.D. Chase Building (about 500 feet away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Berkeley.

Photographed by Barry Swackhamer, January 28, 2012

2. Site of David Park’s Studio Marker

Credits. This page was last revised on February 7, 2023. It was originally submitted on February 8, 2012, by Barry Swackhamer of Brentwood, California. This page has been viewed 942 times since then and 25 times this year. Photos: 1, 2. submitted on February 8, 2012, by Barry Swackhamer of Brentwood, California. • Syd Whittle was the editor who published this page.