Untitled [seated nude with resting her head on her knee] [verso] 1955 - 1967

This is an ink drawing of a seated nude figure made on paper by Richard Diebenkorn. It’s all about the line, a kind of searching, meandering line that feels both tentative and confident, you know? Like he’s feeling his way around the form. The drawing has this lovely openness, thanks to the sparseness of the line, and the exposed paper peeking through everywhere. The paper itself is part of the drawing. It's not just a backdrop, it's like another character in the composition. The area where her head rests on her knee is especially good. See how the lines get denser there, suggesting the weight of her head, the pressure of her thoughts maybe. Diebenkorn’s drawing reminds me a little of Matisse’s line drawings. Both artists have this way of capturing the essence of a form with a minimum of fuss. But Diebenkorn has a roughness to it that’s all his own, like he’s not afraid to let the process show.