Untitled [seated woman in pleated skirt] 1955 - 1967

This is Richard Diebenkorn’s study of a seated woman in a pleated skirt, made with ink and charcoal on paper. The limited palette of blacks, grays, and blues gives it a cool, contemplative vibe. You can almost feel Diebenkorn feeling his way through the form, making his marks with a focused intensity. The material aspects of this work are interesting. The ink is applied in washes, thin and transparent in places, allowing the paper to breathe, but thick and opaque in others. Look at how he renders the shadow behind the figure, where the charcoal is smudged and blended, creating depth and volume. The blue lines, especially around the legs, are like little electric charges that add a sense of energy to the piece. Diebenkorn often returned to the figure throughout his career, even as he became known for his abstract work, and you can see his investigations of space and form across the two. There's something very Matisse-like about the domestic interior, but filtered through an American sensibility. Ultimately, the drawing remains open to interpretation, a testament to the power of ambiguity in art.