Untitled [seated female nude arranging her left foot] 1955 - 1967

Richard Diebenkorn made this seated nude in brown wash, and you can almost see him circling the model, trying to resolve the pose in a few sure strokes. I imagine Diebenkorn squinting, his eyes half-closed to simplify what he's seeing into tonal masses. It’s all there in the contrast between the dark, almost gothic hatching describing the figure's shadow and the pale, blank areas suggesting light falling across her body. Look at how the rapid marks around her neck give way to a calm open space—it's like he’s mapping out the planes of her body, searching for the essential form. The brushstrokes are economical but loaded. There is a clear kinship with artists like Matisse and Giacometti, who similarly used line and tone to evoke form and presence. That dark pool of ink at the base of the drawing is magic. It reminds me how drawing and painting can make you feel the thrill of discovery all over again. Each new mark generates a new response, a new possibility.