Untitled [front view of a reclining female nude] 1955 - 1967

This is a drawing of a reclining nude made by Richard Diebenkorn. It’s all done in charcoal, and it’s pretty big, almost a foot and a half tall. When I look at this drawing, I think about the push and pull of looking, of trying to capture a figure with just a few lines. I can imagine Diebenkorn working fast, trying to get the gesture just right. There's a confidence in the line, a sense of knowing where to put the marks to suggest form and weight. But it’s also tentative, as if he’s feeling his way around the subject. It's a drawing about looking, and about the artist trying to feel the form. Diebenkorn’s figure drawings always remind me of Matisse. Both artists had a real facility for capturing the essence of a form with a few well-placed marks. But Diebenkorn also has this uniquely American sensibility, this rawness and directness. Painting is always a conversation; artists respond to one another across time.