Untitled [female nude seated and looking right] 1955 - 1967

Richard Diebenkorn sketched this untitled nude using graphite on paper. At first glance, the composition strikes us with its stark simplicity, and the figure is rendered with a network of lines that capture the subject's form. Diebenkorn destabilizes the traditional nude, moving away from idealized form to investigate line and space. The structural integrity relies on the interplay between the figure and the surrounding void, activating the negative space as a formal element. The use of line is particularly striking: it's not about contour, but rather about a layering of marks that suggest volume and shadow. This creates a tension between representation and abstraction. Consider the structuralist idea that meaning is derived from the relationship between elements in a system; here, the figure is not just a body but a series of relations—lines, angles, and spatial tensions—that create meaning. This work challenges fixed categories of representation, asking us to see beyond the subject to the underlying structure of the drawing itself.