Untitled [seated nude woman wearing glasses] 1955 - 1967

Richard Diebenkorn made this drawing of a seated nude woman, wearing glasses, on paper with graphite. The all-over hatching with graphite gives the drawing an unfinished quality that I really like. Every mark is visible, as if the artist is thinking through the pose as he draws. It's like he’s feeling his way around the form. I find myself drawn to the upper left corner of the drawing, to those marks that make up the background. The dark mass sits in contrast to the whiteness of the paper. The texture is rough, immediate. It's clear Diebenkorn wasn't interested in hiding his process. It’s more like the drawing is a record of a conversation he was having with the model, and himself, in real-time. The attitude reminds me of Guston’s late drawings - they both seem to be saying something like ‘here is the truth, take it or leave it’. And for me, that's the beauty of art: embracing the messy, unfinished, and ambiguous.