Untitled [partially nude woman seated wearing a hat and necklace] [recto] 1955 - 1967

Editor: We're looking at Richard Diebenkorn’s "Untitled [partially nude woman seated wearing a hat and necklace] [recto]," an ink drawing made sometime between 1955 and 1967. There's something incredibly vulnerable yet self-possessed about this figure rendered in such spare lines. How do you interpret the symbolism in this drawing? Curator: The striking use of line, or the absence of embellishment, compels us to engage more directly with the figure’s emotional landscape. Notice how the hat and necklace act as potent symbols of both disguise and adornment; these choices are steeped in the iconography of femininity. Ask yourself: does this framing device expose or conceal? The necklace is literally an adornment, and maybe a ward protecting the wearer. And the hat to hide? Editor: I see what you mean. The jewelry and the hat make it hard to ignore the performative aspect of it all. Does the vulnerability contrast to a more studied impression of a woman with agency and the possibility of power over others? Curator: Precisely. The starkness encourages a deeper reflection on what we, as viewers, project onto the female form. The pose also feels both classical and utterly modern, a continuity with artistic traditions through time. Even her bareness becomes another layer of self-expression in conversation with social codes and personal identity. Editor: I never considered the relationship to those historical archetypes before. It feels like those quick lines let him, and us, tap into something elemental. Curator: Yes, the quickness is an act of revealing and distilling. What do you take away from the drawing? Editor: That the power of symbolism doesn't always reside in overt imagery. The simplest elements carry complex meanings. Curator: Indeed. A few lines and we delve into a whole world.