Untitled [female nude in profile with left leg raised] 1955 - 1967

Richard Diebenkorn made this untitled charcoal drawing of a female nude, at some point in his career. You know, what strikes me is the pure simplicity of the marks. It’s all about the process, isn’t it? The grainy texture of the charcoal gives the drawing a soft, almost hazy quality. It’s not about perfection, it's about the raw energy of the line. Look at the way he’s rendered her torso, all these quick, overlapping strokes, like he’s trying to capture not just her form, but the very air around her. The lines are confident, but they’re also tentative, like he's feeling his way through the drawing. It reminds me a bit of Matisse, that same love for line, for the way a simple mark can suggest so much. Diebenkorn isn’t trying to give us a definitive statement, he’s inviting us into a conversation. It’s open, ambiguous, and all the more beautiful for it.