Untitled [head of a woman with shoulders sloping] 1955 - 1967

Richard Diebenkorn created this untitled charcoal drawing of a woman. Diebenkorn, who was born in 1922, came of age as a man during the second World War, and later as an artist during the cold war. The visual shorthand, the quick, almost anxious line speaks to a generation marked by global conflict and the threat of nuclear annihilation. The face, partially obscured by shadow, lends the portrait a sense of mystery. Is this the artist's wife, model, or muse? We do not know. Her gaze drifts slightly, as if lost in thought. The sloping shoulders suggest a vulnerability, a weight carried perhaps. This drawing reminds us that portraits are never neutral. They carry the weight of history and the intimacy of human connection. It invites us to contemplate not just the woman depicted, but also the artist himself, and the world that shaped their encounter.