Untitled [front view of a seated female nude] 1955 - 1967

Richard Diebenkorn created this evocative drawing of a seated female nude. Here, the artist presents a timeless motif: the seated nude, a symbolic representation of the female form, stripped down to its basic essence. The absence of facial features evokes a sense of universality, inviting viewers to project their own emotions and experiences onto the figure, and conjures the memory of similar figures across time and cultures. Consider Botticelli’s Venus, a celebration of idealized beauty, whose image is burned into our collective memory. The pose and its inherent vulnerability, echo through the ages. In Diebenkorn's sketch, there is a rawness, an immediacy that bypasses idealized beauty. It speaks to the subconscious, where archetypes reside, tapping into our primal recognition of the feminine. This recurs again and again, adapted in the hands of artists in response to the social context.