Untitled [female nude turning away] 1955 - 1967

This brush and ink drawing of a female nude was made by Richard Diebenkorn sometime in the twentieth century. I love how Diebenkorn’s strokes are so present, like you can feel him working and reworking each contour with an insistent energy. There’s something so direct about the marks here. See how the ink sits right on the surface of the paper? It's like he's feeling out the space, not trying to hide anything. The brushwork is both descriptive and abstract, and reminds me of Chinese calligraphy. There's a real sense of immediacy to it all, a desire to capture a fleeting moment. Look at the way he suggests the shoulder turning away from us, the negative space almost more important than the solid form. Diebenkorn was a huge fan of Matisse, who knew a thing or two about the power of line and the beauty of simplicity. This drawing feels like a conversation with those masters, a continuation of a long, rich dialogue about seeing and representing the world.