Seated Nude, Black Background 1961

Richard Diebenkorn painted "Seated Nude, Black Background" using oil on canvas. Diebenkorn, born in 1922, came of age during a period of significant social change. His service in the military during World War II exposed him to new environments, that challenged conventional ways of thinking and seeing. The female nude as a genre carries a heavy weight of art historical tradition. However, here the artist seems less interested in the objectification, and more concerned with the relationship between model and artist. The pose suggests a moment of introspection, as though the sitter is lost in her own thoughts. The director's chair lends an immediate sense of modernity to the painting. The black background heightens the emotional impact of the piece. "Seated Nude, Black Background" provides an intimate look at the human form. It invites us to see the sitter as an individual, rather than a type. The artist said, "I'm not an abstractionist completely. I'm not a naturalist completely. I'm somewhere in between."