Untitled [profile of a woman touching her cheek] [recto] 1955 - 1967

Curator: Before us, we have Richard Diebenkorn's "Untitled [profile of a woman touching her cheek] [recto]," created sometime between 1955 and 1967. It’s a portrait drawing rendered with watercolor. What are your first impressions? Editor: I'm immediately struck by its incompleteness, its vulnerability. The bare paper showing through gives the impression of a fleeting moment captured. What medium are we talking about here, Curator? Curator: Watercolor and what appears to be ink line. The sparseness of the strokes defines the work, doesn't it? Observe how the artist captured a likeness using just a few well-placed strokes. It exemplifies brevity. Editor: It makes me think about the physical act of drawing. Diebenkorn wasn't fussing with details. There's a speed, a fluidity suggested in his materials, you can see the decisions being made in real time through his applications of broad strokes to hair, shoulder, and chin. This isn't about achieving photo-realism; it's about conveying essence through the handling of water and pigment. Curator: Absolutely. Diebenkorn focuses less on mimetic representation and more on conveying the abstract essence of form. Note the tension created by the juxtaposition of clearly defined contour lines against washes of dilute watercolor, which is something the artist explored through abstraction, using color relationships to create structural cohesion. Editor: Speaking of the watercolor, notice how it's handled almost as a wash in the negative space between lines to almost render the woman's neck and shoulder form without describing much detail. It draws my attention to what remains unseen in the paper itself, the way it provides the picture's subtle, minimal tone. Curator: That interplay of positive and negative space amplifies the artwork's evocative power. Through absence, it conjures presence. It emphasizes the underlying abstract structure which is what compels me to view it more than representational imagery. Editor: I agree, there is more at work. The line's immediacy and the chosen medium speak of the art as work: the act of making and viewing collide to show the hand's impression over all. Thank you for sharing your perspective! Curator: It has been enlightening to view the piece through your lens, revealing its engagement with both materials and artistic labor.