Untitled [seated female nude facing left] 1955 - 1967

Richard Diebenkorn made this drawing of a seated nude in charcoal and blue pencil, and I can almost feel him circling the model. I see him sizing her up, deciding what is essential, which lines can do double duty. I love the frankness of the charcoal smudges that delineate the shadows. It's almost as if Diebenkorn is willing to throw any old mark down just to get to the essence of the thing. I imagine him thinking: "There. That's her weight, her presence." The electric blue lines seem to capture the energy of the room, the air crackling around her body. I find myself wondering about the relationship between the artist and the model. What were they saying? Was there music? Painters like Diebenkorn remind us that every mark is a choice, an act of translation. Each generation builds upon the last, experimenting and pushing at the edges of what painting can be. We owe so much to those who came before us.