Untitled [side view of nude raising her arms] 1955 - 1967

This is a drawing of a nude figure with arms raised, made with charcoal on paper by Richard Diebenkorn. Look at how the charcoal is layered, thick in some areas, smudged and hazy in others – you can really see the process of building up the form. The texture is so important here. The charcoal feels dry and powdery, like the dust of thought. It's as if Diebenkorn is feeling his way through the body, not just drawing what he sees, but what he intuits. See that dark, almost scribbled line that defines the curve of the back? It’s not about perfect anatomy, it’s about the energy of the line, the weight of the form. You might see a kinship with the Matisse drawings – that same economy of line, the ability to suggest so much with so little. But where Matisse is fluid and graceful, Diebenkorn is more grounded, more searching. It’s that searching quality that makes the drawing so compelling.