Untitled [portrait] 1955 - 1967

Richard Diebenkorn made this untitled portrait with what looks like graphite on paper. It's all about the line, isn't it? So delicate, so tentative, like he's feeling his way around the form. You can see the ghost of lines where he’s redrawn a curve or angle, searching for the right expression. I love that quality of searching, that refusal to settle for the first, easy answer. The paper itself is allowed to breathe, with the light grey background almost like a character itself. It gives the drawing a kind of ethereal quality. Think about the way he defines the sitter's face. The lines are so simple but they capture so much. Like, the curve of the nose, the slight tilt of the head. There's a sense of intimacy there, like he really saw this person. It reminds me a little of Matisse's line drawings, where he could say so much with so little. It's all about the conversation between the artist, the subject, and the paper. And the conversation keeps going, you know?