Untitled [seated female nude with one arm raised and one down] 1955 - 1967

Richard Diebenkorn made this drawing of a seated nude with graphite on paper. You can really see Diebenkorn thinking through the pose in this drawing; the lines are tentative, searching. Look at the way the weight is distributed in the figure, the tension between the raised arm and the grounded legs. The shading isn't just about volume; it's like he's mapping the terrain of the body, finding the planes and curves that define it. It’s all process. I'm really drawn to the way he renders the face. It's so minimal, almost abstract, yet you can still sense a presence. The eyes are just suggested, but they seem to hold a gaze. I see connections between this drawing and some of Matisse's line drawings, that same economy of means, that ability to capture so much with so little. For me, art is always an ongoing conversation, a way of seeing and thinking that keeps evolving.