Untitled [female nude seated in armchair and facing right] 1955 - 1967

Richard Diebenkorn made this untitled drawing of a seated nude with charcoal on paper. He's working in the moment, feeling the weight of the body as he makes the marks. It’s immediate. There’s something so vulnerable about charcoal; it smudges, it's powdery, and yet Diebenkorn uses it here to make decisive lines. The way he defines the curve of the back, or the weight of the head with this dark scribble—it’s like he’s trying to capture not just what he sees, but also the feeling of the body in space. Look at how the lines of the chair kind of vibrate around her, suggesting a kind of energy or movement. You can see Diebenkorn’s interest in the figure here, which comes through in his later, more abstract works, like his "Ocean Park" series. It reminds us that even the most abstract art can be rooted in the body, in observation, and in the messy, beautiful process of trying to capture something real.