Untitled [female nude in a hat seated in a folding chair] 1955 - 1967

Richard Diebenkorn made this drawing of a female nude in a hat, seated in a folding chair, with ink and graphite on paper. Look at how Diebenkorn has flooded areas of the paper with ink, creating this wash of shadows that contrast with the sharp blue lines that give definition to the figure and the chair. I bet he felt a certain sympathy for his subject, and I wonder if he was thinking about the tradition of the nude in art history. He must have felt the pleasure in the contrast between the wash of shadow and the delicate lines, letting some of the graphite show through. The way he’s used the blue line is interesting: it’s almost like he’s drawing with light. Maybe Diebenkorn was in conversation with other artists who explored the figure, like Matisse or even Picasso. Artists are always riffing off each other, it’s like a big jam session that lasts for centuries.