Untitled [seated female nude with hand to mouth] 1955 - 1967

Richard Diebenkorn made this drawing – a seated female nude with hand to mouth – using graphite on paper. These are modest materials, immediately accessible. Graphite, as we know it in pencils, is a processed material, but connected to a deep history of drawing. The stark simplicity of the lines shows us Diebenkorn's confident hand. It also creates a certain distance. The graphite doesn't try to imitate flesh, but simply marks out its territory. We can think of this in relation to the act of drawing itself. The artist had to make quick decisions in selecting line weights and contours. Some marks are dark, others very light, almost hesitant. The apparent ease with which this drawing was made belies a deep engagement with the history of life drawing, a practice that is the cornerstone of academic art training. Yet Diebenkorn takes the lessons he learned in the classroom and makes something that feels very personal, very modern. He reminds us that even the most apparently straightforward art materials have a history, and a potential for expression.