Untitled [head of a woman with articulated shirt collar] 1955 - 1967

Richard Diebenkorn made this portrait with graphite on paper. Doesn’t it look like he was searching for something? Like he was following the thread of a feeling through the lines on the page. You can see how he’s gone over some of the lines again and again, trying to get it just right. But what is “right” anyway? I wonder if Diebenkorn knew. I love how the woman's face emerges from the paper with a few simple strokes. It feels so raw and immediate, like a glimpse into the artist’s mind. You get a sense of the energy, the searching, the sheer act of looking. It reminds me of other artists like Giacometti who were also trying to capture the essence of a person. There's this exchange between artists across time, each one building on what came before, and pushing things in new directions. Ultimately, this drawing feels more like a question than an answer, and that’s what makes it so compelling.