Untitled [nude reclining and crossing her legs] 1956

This untitled drawing of a reclining nude by Richard Diebenkorn is just lines on paper, but what lines! I can imagine Diebenkorn with his ink and brush, feeling the weight of art history, yet pushing past it. The ink is thick and juicy in some places, scratchy and light in others. The crossed legs, the scribbled shading – it's all so immediate. It's like he's thinking through the figure right there on the page, not trying to copy it, but to find it. I wonder if he was thinking of Matisse, or maybe even going way back to Ingres? Artists are always talking to each other, across time, saying, "Hey, I see what you did there, and I'm gonna try something new with it." It’s about seeing and feeling and then, with a loaded brush, making your mark.