Untitled [reclining female nude on a quilt] 1955 - 1967

Richard Diebenkorn made this untitled drawing of a reclining female nude on paper with graphite. The motif of the nude carries a lot of weight in the history of Western art, and it's fascinating to see how different artists approach it. In the mid-20th century, when this was likely made, artists were grappling with questions of representation and abstraction. Diebenkorn, who lived and worked in California, seems to be exploring a middle ground. His drawing acknowledges the history of the nude while also pushing against it. The quilt grounds the figure in the everyday. The lines are simple and direct, without the heavy idealization of the past, and the face is left relatively featureless, as if the individual identity of the model is not the point. Art historians find that artist’s letters and sketchbooks, exhibition reviews, and even sales records can illuminate the complex relationship between an artwork and the society in which it was made.