Untitled [reclining female nude with back to wall and leg raised] 1955 - 1967

This is an ink drawing on paper by Richard Diebenkorn, titled "Untitled [reclining female nude with back to wall and leg raised]". The subject of the drawing is immediately recognizable, but what is significant here is Diebenkorn's abstraction of the human form through a network of bold lines and varied textures. Note how the network of lines renders the shape of the body, yet simultaneously breaks it down into abstract components. The stark contrast of the black ink against the white paper generates a dynamic visual rhythm, guiding the viewer's eye across the composition. Notice how this interplay of positive and negative space challenges traditional representations of the nude by focusing on the formal relationships between line, shape, and space. The reclining figure is not merely an aesthetic object but an exploration of the language of drawing itself. The sketch destabilizes established meanings of figurative art, by engaging with new ways of thinking about representation.