Untitled [standing female nude stepping on ladder] 1955 - 1967

Richard Diebenkorn rendered this untitled drawing of a standing female nude stepping on a ladder using graphite. The ladder, an object of both support and ascension, immediately strikes us. In antiquity, ladders often symbolized spiritual ascent, such as in the biblical story of Jacob's Ladder, a motif echoed through Renaissance art. Here, the ladder's rungs meet the nude form, drawing a connection between physical and perhaps intellectual or spiritual elevation. The female nude, a recurrent figure throughout art history, embodies not only beauty but also vulnerability. Her pose, stepping upwards, suggests aspiration, a striving for something more. Consider how these elements, deeply rooted in our collective cultural memory, surface and resurface in the visual arts, adapting and evolving, yet retaining their primordial power to evoke profound emotional and psychological responses. The echoes of the past resonate here, transformed yet undeniably present.