Untitled [side view of a nude on her hands and knees] 1955 - 1967

Curator: Oh, it's interesting. The mood in this one... it feels heavy, almost melancholic. Is that just me? Editor: Perhaps not. Here we have an untitled drawing by Richard Diebenkorn, created sometime between 1955 and 1967. It's a pencil study, seemingly, of a nude figure on her hands and knees. Curator: A study, yes, but there's something deeply human here. Look at the way he hasn’t labored to define every contour, opting instead for suggestive lines, hinting at form. Editor: Exactly. The economy of line is striking. Note how the structure emphasizes horizontality, with the spine as a central vector. The repeated strokes—the "pentimenti"—reveal the artist's process, creating a palpable tension. Curator: That tension really grabs me. It's a body, yes, but also a landscape, almost. A terrain of vulnerability, mapped out in charcoal. I wonder, what was he feeling? Editor: Feelings are certainly part of the experience! Formally, the subdued palette pushes the emphasis to tonal variations and values. See how he creates shadow, deepening the spatial recession despite the limited value range. The foreshortening is deftly handled too. Curator: The shadows are pools of introspection! You feel that she might be pondering a dilemma. Is it too fanciful to suggest he imbues her with a silent scream? Editor: The drawing sits within a rich history of figuration and academic art, though the visible process renders the traditional themes through a lens of abstraction, something which is interesting with respect to Diebenkorn's shift to the abstract style a short time later. Curator: Maybe so, but still it evokes so much for me personally. Like a visual poem, a whisper of loneliness, or maybe a quiet moment of pure contemplation. It gets into you, doesn’t it? Editor: Indeed. It makes us think about form and subject. A very insightful drawing; so much to see and consider, here!