Untitled [nude extending his left arm] 1955 - 1967

Richard Diebenkorn made this untitled nude drawing with pencil on paper. The figure dominates the composition, its starkness softened by the subtle texture of the paper. The subject's extended arm creates a pronounced horizontal axis, contrasting with the verticality of the body and lending a sense of tension and imbalance to the overall form. Diebenkorn's style here owes much to the modernist ethos of reducing form to its essence. The lines, while representational, are economic, almost diagrammatic. This hints at a deeper structural investigation: the human form is not just depicted, but deconstructed into its fundamental components. This piece explores the semiotic interplay between the signifier - the lines and shapes - and the signified - the human body, with the negative space around the figure becoming as crucial as the drawn lines themselves. Consider how the simplicity and rawness of this drawing challenge traditional notions of beauty and representation. It invites us to contemplate the body as a site of both physical presence and abstract form, a concept that continues to resonate in contemporary discourse.