Untitled [two reclining women] 1967

Richard Diebenkorn made this ink drawing, Untitled [two reclining women], probably sometime in the mid-20th century. Look at how Diebenkorn uses line, it's not about perfection; it's about finding the form through the process of drawing. The ink creates these stark, simple lines. It’s immediate and raw. You can almost feel him deciding where to put each line, correcting and adding, like a conversation he's having with the paper. Notice how he captures the weight and form of the figures with such economy. There’s this one thick, looping line that defines the sandal, it's so direct, so confident, yet still open, still searching. Diebenkorn's line drawings remind me of Matisse's, but with a distinctly American sensibility. Both artists share a love for simplification, for reducing the world to its essential forms. It’s like they’re saying, "Here's the world, stripped bare, now what do you see?" And isn't that the beauty of art? It asks us to look, and then look again.