Untitled [woman putting on stockings] 1955 - 1967

Editor: Richard Diebenkorn's "Untitled [woman putting on stockings]," likely created between 1955 and 1967, is a charcoal drawing that I find incredibly intimate. The raw strokes seem to capture a very private moment. What do you see in this piece? Curator: Intimacy, yes, that’s it! For me, it feels like a stolen glance, almost voyeuristic, but tender too. Diebenkorn wasn’t aiming for hyperrealism; he wanted to capture a mood, an essence. Do you notice how the heavy, dark charcoal contrasts with the untouched paper? Editor: I do! It creates a real tension. It feels unfinished, but intentionally so. Curator: Precisely. Think of it like a half-remembered dream. He leaves space for our own interpretations, our own experiences of vulnerability. I'm reminded of Degas's pastels of dancers – that same casual, almost accidental quality. Is there a particular detail that sticks out to you? Editor: The way the figure's face is obscured, it’s not about who she is, but more about the act itself. The everyday made monumental, you know? Curator: Exactly. He elevates the mundane. And that’s where the beauty lies, isn't it? In finding poetry in the ordinary. It's a deceptively simple image that unravels into something so profound, wouldn’t you agree? Editor: Absolutely. I initially saw it as just a quick sketch, but it’s clearly much more than that – it's a study in human form and feeling. Curator: A little window into the soul, perhaps. And that, for me, is what makes art truly sing.