Untitled [female nude seated in armchair with legs crossed] 1955 - 1967

Richard Diebenkorn made this drawing, with charcoal, of a seated nude. I can imagine him, shifting and emerging through trial, error, and intuition, trying to capture what's in front of him. I think there’s something really great about how Diebenkorn saw the planes and the volumes of the body using these dark bold lines, and then kind of letting the rest happen, or not happen. Like, it’s not about perfection at all! Maybe he wasn’t trying to make a perfect drawing of a person, but to register the sensation of looking at them instead? There’s a sense of honesty. It’s so free, so simple, and yet there is something about how it’s drawn, like a kind of confidence and generosity, you know? It reminds me of Matisse, because it’s like he’s not just drawing a figure, but he’s participating in this amazing, ongoing conversation between artists across time, and inspiring creativity. It’s like this embodied expression embraces ambiguity and uncertainty, allowing for multiple interpretations.