Untitled [seated woman with coffee and a pack of cigarettes] 1955 - 1967

Richard Diebenkorn made this drawing of a seated woman with coffee and cigarettes with ink on paper. It’s all about the line here, that confident, continuous mark making that makes up the image. You get the sense that Diebenkorn wasn’t fussing too much, he was just feeling his way around the form, and that makes the whole thing feel immediate and kind of intimate, right? Check out the way the line thickens and thins, suggesting weight and shadow with economy, like the curve of her shoulder. And the way he captures the essence of the figure with so few strokes is pretty amazing. It reminds me of Matisse in its simplicity, but with a rawness that's all Diebenkorn. In fact, Diebenkorn looked at Matisse a lot, both were keen to embrace ambiguity. It is precisely this ambiguity that allows us space to explore. It's a reminder that art is not about fixed meanings but about ongoing conversations.