Untitled [standing nude resting her knee on a support] 1955 - 1967

Richard Diebenkorn made this nude resting on a support with ink on paper. I look at this, and I immediately start thinking about the joy and the difficulty of trying to get a form down quickly. You know, it's so hard to make something look relaxed. This model is standing, but she is *also* lounging, and that's hard to pull off! I imagine Diebenkorn wrestling with his brush, trying to get that feeling of ease and weight distribution with just a few strokes. The dark washes make the figure solid, and they give her presence, but I wonder if he was thinking about the challenge of representing three dimensions on a flat surface. It's like he is saying, "How can I give you the most information with the least amount of lines?" It looks simple, but it is *not* simple. That’s Diebenkorn for you.