He was consumed with pure abstraction and became one of the most prominent colorists and abstract-expressionists of the time. His work was receiving national acclaim. The Guggenheim Museum included his paintings in its exhibition of “Younger American Painters” and he received the Abraham Rosenberg Traveling Fellowship for the Advanced Study of Art.
      In the late 1950’s, Diebenkorn grew tired of the pressure to stay abstract. His interest grew stronger for Cezanne, Mondrian, and Matisse, rather than the more ideological work of Gorky, Picasso, and Pollock. In 1958, he moved his studio to Oakland and shocked the art world by returning to representational painting.