Untitled [seated nude with resting her head on her retracted leg] [recto] 1955 - 1967

Curator: Richard Diebenkorn's ink drawing, made sometime between 1955 and 1967, presents a seated nude. The figure is resting, with their head resting on a retracted leg. What springs to mind when you first see it? Editor: I am immediately struck by a feeling of quiet melancholy. The figure is so withdrawn, almost self-absorbed. The minimal lines emphasize the curve of the body, but also the sparseness of her surroundings. Is there any further context for these nude studies by Diebenkorn? Curator: Diebenkorn often returned to the female nude as a subject. This image, like many of his drawings, wasn't necessarily intended as a finished work. Think of it instead as exploration. You see him grappling with line, form, and emotion through this figure. The pose itself - the way the head is hidden, the vulnerability of the naked body – speaks volumes. What of the chair? It’s more than just a place to sit. Editor: The chair definitely provides an interesting juxtaposition, a rigid structure against the soft, organic form of the body. I think that’s it though – structure. To me it highlights a constraint, almost a confinement that adds another layer to that sense of melancholy that is inescapable here. But, speaking to what you call exploration, it appears incomplete in parts. Why only commit in places? Curator: Precisely. Note the artist's economy of line. Diebenkorn is really honing in on specific contours, implying shape without fully defining it. The negative space becomes just as important as the drawn lines, right? That is typical of his minimalist approach, and his quest for purity. Editor: Yes! I now feel that he might have only chosen aspects he deemed worthy of deeper interrogation in each session – what if he considered these sketches and exploratory attempts practice, more so than complete works themselves? Curator: That reading seems right on the mark. The image possesses this incredible rawness that invites you into the artist's process. There is not an idealized or sexualized figure presented before you. There is just pure human contemplation. It is simple but profoundly effective. Editor: Absolutely, what struck me as incomplete moments ago, I now see as completely raw – beautiful, but raw. Now I’m eager to go explore some other work! Thanks for the chat.