Untitled [woman seated on a cushion on the floor] [recto] 1955 - 1967

Curator: Oh, there’s a beautiful simplicity to this one. This is an untitled pencil drawing by Richard Diebenkorn, created sometime between 1955 and 1967. It’s called, elegantly, "Untitled [woman seated on a cushion on the floor] [recto]". Editor: It’s funny, I immediately get a sense of, well, contemplation. She seems almost... resigned, but with a quiet strength. The starkness only amplifies that. Curator: Precisely. The lack of flourish throws all the emphasis onto the figure's pose and expression. See how he’s used line? Quick, confident strokes that define her form without ever really enclosing it. Editor: It almost feels unfinished, but intentionally so. There's a structural element at play. It could easily become expressionistic. Curator: Yes, that interplay between the suggested and the defined…it's core to his method. She almost blends with the background—a suggestion of interior space defined by those stark lines—it pulls her out of a defined sense of "here" and plants her into a plane of feeling. The unfinished background becomes her landscape. Editor: A formal, contained kind of loneliness. Is there that, maybe? Look at how she looks, away from us…lost in herself. And that geometric, rather rigid structure around her… Curator: Possibly, or a calm self-possession? The lack of color encourages an appreciation for his manipulation of depth through shadow. Her thoughtful gaze could be directed anywhere. And look closer... isn’t it fascinating how, with so few lines, he captures the weight and drape of her clothing? Editor: Absolutely! The materiality through purely linework—the pencil on paper just comes alive! There's definitely an undercurrent of something that keeps it compelling. Curator: Well, it seems this apparently simple sketch contains layers to uncover, and certainly evokes more questions than it answers. Editor: Precisely. The elegance of form and the enigma of its emotional life coexisting. Wonderful!