Untitled [standing female nude reaching down with her right hand] 1958

Richard Diebenkorn made this drawing of a standing female nude reaching down with her right hand, using ink on paper. The washes of ink create a sense of weight and volume. I can see Diebenkorn trying to capture a sense of the body in motion, a kind of fleeting pose. It's kind of vulnerable, too, isn't it? As if he's asking, how do I make this form come alive on the page? The drawing feels so immediate, like he’s figuring it out as he goes. You can see the ghost of lines where he’s adjusted the figure, searching for the right contour. It reminds me of other figurative artists like de Kooning, Giacometti, even Matisse—all trying to distill the essence of the human form.