Untitled [standing nude resting her elbow on her knee] 1955 - 1967

Richard Diebenkorn made this untitled ink drawing of a standing nude, resting her elbow on her knee, at an unknown date. The energy in Diebenkorn's line is just so palpable, isn't it? You can almost feel the scratch of the pen on paper. Notice how the body is rendered with these swift, sure strokes, a continuous line that loops and intersects, building volume and shadow with pure economy. The drawing is alive. I'm particularly drawn to the way the hand is drawn, supporting the figure’s head. See how Diebenkorn captures the weight and the softness of flesh with just a few marks. The hand is a flurry of lines, a tangle of fingers that somehow manages to convey both tension and vulnerability. For me, this drawing speaks to a lineage that includes artists like Matisse, whose own line drawings share that same sense of immediacy and grace. It's like Diebenkorn is in conversation with the past, taking something old and making it new.