Untitled [standing nude with her left foot on a support] 1955 - 1967

Richard Diebenkorn made this drawing, standing nude with her left foot on a support, with graphite on paper. The marks are loose and searching, and I can imagine him circling around the form, trying to find the right line, the perfect curve. I feel a kind of sympathy for Diebenkorn here, grappling with the complexities of the human form. He's not trying to create a perfect likeness, but rather capture something more elusive, a sense of weight, presence, and maybe even vulnerability. The way he renders the shading on the figure's back, with those dense, scribbled lines, it almost feels like he’s trying to sculpt the form out of the paper itself. You know, drawing from life is a way to keep your eyes open, to stay curious, to remind yourself that there's always more to see if you take the time to look. Diebenkorn did this throughout his career and his exploration really resonates with other figurative artists. It's a conversation across time, each artist building on the insights and discoveries of those who came before.