Untitled [female nude in a dark armchair] 1955 - 1967

This drawing of a female nude in a dark armchair was made by Richard Diebenkorn, and it's all charcoal greys and blacks on a light ground. I'm picturing Diebenkorn, maybe a bit restless, circling the paper, his hand moving decisively but also kind of feeling its way. I'm feeling a bit for him actually. It’s like he’s thinking, “How do I capture this figure, this weight, this sense of someone just being?”. The marks around the armchair are so dark and intense, almost fighting against the delicate lines that define the figure. It reminds me of de Kooning's drawings—that searching, never-quite-satisfied quality. You see the history of mark making, and a lineage being forged by a devotion to drawing from life. You see the artist in the work. It’s about the intimate act of seeing and trying to understand what’s in front of you. It shows how artists keep the conversation going, each adding their own voice.