Untitled [figure tilting her head back slightly] 1955 - 1967

Richard Diebenkorn made this ‘Untitled’ drawing with graphite on paper. I imagine him, pencil in hand, circling, searching, building the form of the face with these delicate, almost tentative lines. You know, there’s a real tenderness in the way he renders the subject. The subtle shading around the neck and jaw, the soft focus on the eyes—it feels like an intimate observation, like he's trying to capture not just what the person looks like, but also their inner state. Diebenkorn was always exploring that space between representation and abstraction. Even in this seemingly straightforward portrait, you can see him pushing at the edges of perception, questioning how we see and interpret the world around us. It’s like he’s saying, "Here’s a face, but what else can it be?" And that's what makes it so compelling.