Untitled [reclining nude with a cigarette in her hand] 1955 - 1967

Richard Diebenkorn made this ink drawing of a reclining nude with a cigarette in her hand, but when? There's no date! I see the figure emerging out of the page with these confident lines. You know, sometimes I feel like I am wrestling with the surface when I am making a painting. I wonder if Diebenkorn felt the same way when he drew this. Look at the confidence of the hatching around the pubic area, where the lines build up a dark and dense bush. I imagine Diebenkorn working fast, trying to capture her essence, her pose. It makes me think of Matisse’s line drawings from the 1940s. There's an exchange, don't you think? This drawing feels so intimate, as if we are catching a glimpse of a private moment. It’s like Diebenkorn is inviting us to share in his fascination with the human form, and the simple, elegant beauty of a line.