Untitled [model leaning on a stand] 1955 - 1967

Richard Diebenkorn made this untitled painting with ink on paper, using a limited palette of blacks, whites, and grays. I imagine he started by laying down some washes, letting the ink bleed and pool on the page. Then comes the layering, the push and pull of dark and light, trying to capture something elusive, a figure perhaps, caught in a moment of introspection. I can feel his hand moving across the paper, the brushstrokes energetic and urgent. See how the marks build up, how the form emerges from the ground, shifting and resolving and dissolving again? There’s this one gesture, right near the center, a bold, almost brutal stroke of black, that seems to anchor the whole composition, giving weight to the figure and a sense of the artist's conviction. It reminds me of de Kooning's figurative abstractions, but with a quieter, more internal quality. It’s all about the conversation between artists, across time, inspiring each other. I love how Diebenkorn embraces ambiguity, inviting us to bring our own readings to it.