Untitled [front view of standing nude with her left arm raised] 1955 - 1967

Richard Diebenkorn made this untitled nude using dark, gestural brushstrokes on paper. I wonder if it was done in one go? There's such immediacy, you know, that feeling of the artist working quickly, capturing the essence of the figure with confidence and ease. I can imagine him, brush loaded, circling around the model, trying to capture her form. Did he feel something looking at her? There's this beautiful balance between abstraction and representation, where the figure emerges from these fluid marks, kinda dissolving back into them too. Look at how he uses the varying tones of ink to create depth and volume, like in the torso, and that confident stroke defining the leg. It’s about the act of seeing and translating that onto the page. It’s like a conversation with artists like Matisse, but with Diebenkorn's own distinctive voice. Painting is like this, you know; one big conversation through time!