Untitled [kneeling female nude: side view] 1955 - 1967

This is Richard Diebenkorn’s ‘Untitled [kneeling female nude: side view]’, made with graphite on paper. I love the searching quality of the line, like he's feeling his way around the form. You can see the pentimenti, the ghost marks of earlier passes. The paper is allowed to breathe, almost all negative space, with a tonal range from light grey to near-black. It’s so minimal, so immediate. There's a beautiful passage in the figure’s left hand where the line is reduced to a mere suggestion, leaving the hand unresolved. Thinking about other artists, this reminds me of Giacometti's drawings, in the way they both capture a sense of fleeting, ephemeral presence. The power of this piece lies in its ambiguity and openness, which is something I aim for in my own work.