Untitled [standing female nude with right hand raised to head] by Richard Diebenkorn

Untitled [standing female nude with right hand raised to head] 1955 - 1967

0:00
0:00

drawing, pencil

# 

drawing

# 

figuration

# 

bay-area-figurative-movement

# 

pencil drawing

# 

pencil

# 

nude

# 

modernism

Dimensions: overall: 40.6 x 27.9 cm (16 x 11 in.)

Copyright: National Gallery of Art: CC0 1.0

This is an untitled drawing of a standing nude made with graphite on paper by Richard Diebenkorn. The marks are scrubby, with a lot of back-and-forth. It’s all about the process of finding the figure through a kind of searching, almost like feeling around in the dark. I love how Diebenkorn uses the graphite to create different textures. Look at the torso, where the lines are dense and layered, creating a sense of volume and weight. Then notice how the lines get thinner and more sparse towards the legs, suggesting a lighter, more ephemeral quality. The right hand raised to the head feels particularly poignant, a gesture of contemplation or maybe even despair. The way Diebenkorn renders it, with those quick, nervous strokes, really captures the feeling of a fleeting moment. For me, this drawing feels like a conversation between Diebenkorn and artists like Matisse, who also explored the nude figure with such sensitivity and grace. It’s a reminder that art is always an ongoing dialogue, a way of seeing and responding to the world around us.

Show more

Comments

No comments

Be the first to comment and join the conversation on the ultimate creative platform.