Girl Smoking 1963

Editor: Richard Diebenkorn’s "Girl Smoking," created in 1963 with oil paint, presents a rather pensive mood, don't you think? The figure seems lost in thought. What's your read on this particular work? Curator: For me, this piece sits within a fascinating moment of American art history. Diebenkorn, initially an abstract expressionist, shifted toward figuration, and this painting reflects that shift. But he wasn't just painting a portrait; he was participating in the Bay Area Figurative Movement, rethinking how figures and narratives function in a post-war, increasingly consumerist society. What kind of woman do you think she is, given the smoking? Editor: That’s interesting to think about. It's almost cinematic, this image, she's got that aura of cool rebellion of a mid-century woman...almost as a challenge against that perfect housewife trope from those adds, right? Curator: Precisely. And think about how smoking itself was perceived then – glamorous, sophisticated, yet carrying its own baggage of anxieties, even at that time. Consider the way he renders the figure: broad strokes, visible brushwork. It rejects traditional academic painting styles and connects with the rising counter-cultural moods, giving rise to social rebellion. Editor: I didn't catch the undercurrents of rebellion before! I see the pose as thoughtful, contemplative, but now it takes a social edge. I'm going to start viewing other portraits through that kind of context lens too. Curator: It’s the beauty of art – to constantly see new things in them and new views in ourselves. This portrait offers a lens into not only art but to the social and cultural landscape of that time period. Editor: Thank you so much for those enlightening insights! Now I can feel like I can bring new dimensions into my research.