Untitled [seated woman holding a cup] 1955 - 1967

Richard Diebenkorn made this painting of a woman holding a cup using ink and charcoal. The inky blacks and grays remind me of a rainy day, you know? Imagine Diebenkorn, maybe with some jazz on, charcoal in hand, circling the figure, finding her essence. I bet he was thinking about how to capture her stillness, her interior world, with just a few bold strokes. Look at the blue lines almost vibrating around her form – it’s like he’s trying to cage her and let her escape at the same time. Diebenkorn’s figures often feel like landscapes. His work makes me think about other painters, too, like Matisse and Giacometti – that same search for form and feeling. It's all part of this long conversation, this exchange of ideas. Painting's not about answers but more about an embodied expression that embraces uncertainty and allows for multiple readings.