Untitled [reclining nude turned and resting on her elbows] 1955 - 1967

Richard Diebenkorn made this drawing of a reclining nude with charcoal, and you can almost feel the paper dust on your fingertips. I’m imagining Diebenkorn's hand moving across the page, guided by a dance between observation and feeling. He's really laying down these broad, gestural marks, finding the form through a process of addition and subtraction. There's an urgency in the strokes, a desire to capture not just the appearance, but the essence of the figure. The charcoal is thick and velvety in some areas, creating deep shadows, while elsewhere it's light and airy. I bet Diebenkorn felt a connection to artists like Matisse, who similarly explored the expressive potential of line and form. Artists are always in conversation, aren't they, echoing and responding to one another across time. And in this piece, I see not just a nude, but an invitation to embrace the messy, uncertain, and deeply human act of seeing.