Untitled [partially nude woman seated wearing a hat] [recto] 1955 - 1967

This is an untitled ink drawing of a partially nude woman in a hat, by Richard Diebenkorn. The lines feel so immediate, you know? Like he's trying to capture a fleeting moment. You can see the ghost of an earlier attempt behind the solid line of the figure. I love that layering, the way you can see the artist working through the idea. It's all about the line here, isn't it? Thick and thin, confident and tentative. Look at the way he renders the chair she's sitting on, all these angular lines that seem to collapse in on themselves, then contrast this with the simple curve of the figure's form. See how the hat hides her face? It makes her more anonymous, more of an idea. Diebenkorn reminds me a little of Matisse, in his economy of line and his interest in the figure. Both were masters of simplification, of distilling form down to its essence. But, where Matisse can be so full of joy, Diebenkorn often feels more introspective. It's amazing how much emotion you can pack into a simple line drawing.