Untitled [nude seated with her arms on chair armrests] 1955 - 1967

Curator: Before us is an untitled drawing by Richard Diebenkorn, believed to have been created sometime between 1955 and 1967. Note how Diebenkorn masterfully uses ink to depict a seated nude figure. Editor: Oh, wow, she’s intense, isn’t she? Like a storm distilled onto paper. The rapid strokes create this feeling of unease, almost as if she’s dissolving right before your eyes, you know? Curator: The apparent abstraction invites close scrutiny. The figure is present but lacks complete form; indeed, her very identity becomes subordinate to the act of mark-making. We might observe that this oscillation between figuration and abstraction is very typical of Post-Impressionist drawing. Editor: Absolutely, I get that. There's this beautiful push and pull between the solid shapes and these watery, bleeding lines, like a memory fading. The chair she's sitting on is barely there, yet its presence is heavy somehow, weighting her down, isolating her. Does that make any sense? Curator: It does. The spatial ambiguity and tonal contrasts contribute to the disquieting effect you noted initially. The absence of distinct facial features certainly underscores a sense of alienation. Note also how the interplay of positive and negative space defines the composition. The negative space almost fights for prominence with the subject, intensifying this disorienting impression of form and dissolution you recognized. Editor: Yeah! And that stark contrast is almost brutal; I mean the vulnerability of the pose combined with such aggressive brushwork... it’s like the act of seeing her is also an act of violence, or perhaps it's vulnerability exposing itself. There is an honesty there I can't shake. Curator: Perhaps such intensity also suggests a psychological landscape, exposing the inherent tensions within the self. But, of course, formal analysis, even extended by considerations of post-impressionist aesthetics, can hardly account for subjective feeling… Editor: Exactly! It is supposed to feel, not to be defined. It feels alive, that’s all, not resolved, not polite, but viscerally, undeniably real. I feel I now need a shot of something potent. Curator: Then our time with Diebenkorn has been worthwhile. The conversation it inspires continues.