Untitled [seated female nude with left arm on chair back] 1955 - 1967

This is a drawing by Richard Diebenkorn, made with charcoal. It's all about the power of the line, isn't it? Just look at those decisive strokes defining the figure. The artist seems to have had a love affair with simplification; he's stripped everything down to the bare essentials, focusing on gesture and form. You can almost feel him wrestling with the shapes, trying to capture the essence of the model with as few marks as possible. I can imagine Diebenkorn, with his charcoal stick, circling the figure, trying to get it right. He's feeling the weight of art history on his shoulders, but at the same time, he's trying to break free and make something new. Those lines, they’re so confident yet so vulnerable. He's searching for something beyond mere representation. It makes me think of Matisse and his own explorations of form, but with a uniquely American sensibility. Like a conversation between artists across time, you know? A testament to how we keep learning from each other, pushing the boundaries of what art can be.