Untitled [seated female nude in a high back armchair] 1955 - 1967

Curator: This ink drawing, “Untitled [seated female nude in a high back armchair],” by Richard Diebenkorn, dates from the mid-1950s to the late 60s. What's your immediate take on it? Editor: Brooding, a bit severe. It’s minimal yet it captures something very palpable in the sitter’s posture and face. Almost like an existential ache. Curator: I see it too! Notice how the stark ink lines carve out the figure's form but also seem to confine her. The chair itself—a high-backed throne, almost—becomes a sort of cage. I feel the tension between confinement and freedom. It reminds me of ancient Egyptian art—think of the seated scribe, eternally poised in the act of capturing information! It all relates to power... Editor: Right. The act of portraying a nude – is it empowering, or objectifying? That contrast is strong here. The chair’s almost skeletal form gives an impression of support and constraint at the same time. The subject's gaze holds a weight of knowledge; her slight slouch implies weariness, suggesting a history carried within. It almost reminds me of the cyclical iconography around the Crone archetype. Curator: Absolutely. Think about the historical context. This work emerges from a period marked by shifting gender roles and social expectations for women. Diebenkorn's figure resists easy classification. She's not idealized, but her gaze carries this intelligence. Editor: She challenges the conventional idea of beauty and poses a certain kind of power—perhaps intellectual, introspective. The lack of extraneous detail enhances this feeling. Everything is reduced to the core essence of form and presence. It leaves much for our imaginations to wander. Curator: I completely agree. It really makes you wonder, doesn’t it? Diebenkorn’s masterful economy of line achieves a complex representation of selfhood. Editor: It's certainly a memorable and unsettlingly honest artwork. Something to hold onto.