Untitled [seated female nude with short hair] 1955 - 1967

Editor: This charcoal drawing by Richard Diebenkorn, titled 'Untitled [seated female nude with short hair]', made sometime between 1955 and 1967, presents a figure in a relaxed, almost melancholic pose. I'm struck by the dynamism of the lines; they seem to capture movement even in stillness. What do you see in this piece? Curator: The linear quality indeed dictates our reading. The varied densities in mark-making is highly compelling; consider the difference between the frenetic hatching that defines the hair and the comparative smoothness describing the torso. The network of lines implies a concern for structure, almost as if Diebenkorn is interested in mapping out the planes of the body, less about the volume. Would you agree? Editor: Yes, absolutely. It's like he's constructing the figure with lines rather than shading. But it also feels quite gestural, as though he's trying to capture a fleeting impression of the pose. Is that a contradiction? Curator: Not at all. The tension between structure and gesture is precisely where the power lies. Notice how the lines themselves never fully commit to defining a boundary. Rather, the contour seems ever shifting, in the process of becoming. The use of charcoal, here, is also highly significant; its very materiality contributes to the unfinished quality that invites a sense of incompleteness in representing a female nude. Editor: So, the formal qualities of the work – the lines, the charcoal, the composition – are really working together to create this feeling? Curator: Precisely. Diebenkorn seems preoccupied not with replicating form but with examining how forms come to be. He uses this formal approach to offer us, I suggest, not an image, but a visual argument of its kind. Editor: That’s given me a totally different way to appreciate this work, looking at the how, not just the what. Thank you! Curator: An emphasis on artistic means over ends is, for me, always time well spent.