The Drawing Group

  1. Berkeley Street by Elmer Bischoff, Image 1.

    Elmer Bischoff

    Berkeley Street, c. 1960

    charcoal on paper

  2. Chair by Bruce McGaw, Image 1.

    Bruce McGaw

    Chair, 1962

    gouache on paper

    13.5 x 16.75 in

  3. Figure Study by Frank Lobdell, Image 1.

    Frank Lobdell

    Figure Study, 1963

  4. Two Nudes by Richard Diebenkorn, Image 3.

    Richard Diebenkorn

    Two Nudes, 1962

    graphite and gouache

    14 x 17 in

  5. various by Elmer Bischoff, Image 3.

    Elmer Bischoff

    various, c. 1960

    17 x 13.5 in

  6. Woman by William Theophilus Brown, Image 1.

    William Theophilus Brown

    Woman, 1982

    graphite on paper

    14.25 x 11.5 in

  7. Woman on Chair by Elmer Bischoff, Image 4.

    Elmer Bischoff

    Woman on Chair, c. 1964

    Ink on Paper

    17.75 x 14.75 in

  8. Woman on Chair Nude by Bruce McGaw, Image 1.

    Bruce McGaw

    Woman on Chair Nude, c. 1960

    mixed media on paper

    24 x 17 in

Artists on view

Elmer Bischoff • William Theophilus Brown • Richard Diebenkorn • Frank Lobdell • Bruce McGaw

About The Drawing Group

This group of artists including Richard Diebenkorn, Elmer Bischoff, David Park and Joan Brown would gather in Diebenkorn’s Berkeley studio to draw from live models. These artists were among a daring handful rejecting abstraction for something more universal in their minds – the human condition. In 1955, when Park began teaching at UC Berkeley with Diebenkorn, painting outside of the New York scene was considered provincial. Regardless, this circle of painters along with James Weeks, Paul Wonner, Theophilus Brown and Nathan Oliveira focused on mastering the human form by repeatedly drawing models in various poses, and experimenting with both traditional and alternative materials.

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