Untitled [seated female nude turned away from light source] 1955 - 1967

Richard Diebenkorn made this painting of a seated female nude with ink on paper. Its stark monochrome palette and gestural brushstrokes immediately place it within the Abstract Expressionist tradition. But what happens when such a style is applied to the traditional subject of the nude? During the mid-20th century in the United States, art institutions like the California School of Fine Arts, where Diebenkorn taught, provided spaces for artists to explore new modes of representation. Diebenkorn’s image turns away from the conventions of the traditional nude in European painting. Instead of eroticising the female form, the figure seems pensive and withdrawn. The artist's concentration on form, space, and expressive brushwork over traditional representation invites us to reconsider the power dynamics inherent in the act of looking. To fully appreciate this artwork's significance, we can delve into the socio-political context of postwar America. A comparative study of the way the female body has been represented in different art institutions across the 20th century may give us further insight.