Untitled [front view of seated female nude with left hand on head] 1955 - 1967

Richard Diebenkorn made this "Untitled" sketch of a seated nude with ink on paper. It's a study in process, really, a dance between the seen and the felt. The ink is laid down with a kind of urgent fluidity, almost like he’s chasing the form as it shifts in his mind. The texture is minimal, yet the stark contrast of the black ink on the pale paper creates a palpable tension. Look at the face, or rather, the absence of one – just scribbles and shadows, a mask of ink that somehow conveys more than a carefully rendered portrait ever could. It's like a shorthand for emotion, a way of capturing the essence without getting bogged down in details. This reminds me a little of Cy Twombly’s gestural work, not in style, but in the shared pursuit of feeling over form. Both artists show us that art doesn’t need to be precise to be true, embracing the beauty of ambiguity and the power of suggestion.