Untitled [seated female nude with right arm raised] [verso] 1955 - 1967

Richard Diebenkorn made this drawing of a nude, probably from life, with charcoal on paper. What strikes me is the directness and immediacy of the marks. The economy of line. I can imagine Diebenkorn, with his intense focus, capturing the essence of the figure with each stroke. He’s wrestling with the form, searching for the right contours, and allowing the charcoal to glide and dance across the page. You can feel the push and pull of observation and intuition. The raised arm creates a dynamic tension, as if the figure is caught in a moment of transition, perhaps adjusting her hair or simply stretching. It reminds me of Matisse, or even some of those early modernist figure studies, where the act of seeing and representing becomes as important as the subject itself. Diebenkorn and his peers were all in conversation with each other, exploring the possibilities of line and form, and redefining how we perceive the human body. What a great drawing!