Untitled [nude in an armchair with one foot resting on the seat] [recto] 1955 - 1967

Richard Diebenkorn made this untitled charcoal drawing of a nude in an armchair; it’s all about the process of looking and mark-making. The surface is raw, immediate. You can see the charcoal smudges and erasures; he's working it out right in front of us. The lines are searching, not always sure, doubling back, like a conversation he's having with himself and the figure. Look at the way the charcoal is applied, thick and dark in some areas, then fading to a whisper-thin gray in others. It’s like he's sculpting with the charcoal, using the pressure of his hand to create light and shadow. The figure's foot, resting on the chair, is particularly evocative. There’s a real kinship with Matisse in Diebenkorn’s line, that same sense of capturing a figure's essence with the fewest possible strokes. Ultimately, it’s the ambiguity and openness of Diebenkorn's drawing that make it so compelling.