Untitled [seated female nude with crossed legs] 1955 - 1967

Here's a seated figure by Richard Diebenkorn, swiftly rendered with black ink on paper. I can almost feel the artist's hand moving across the surface, decisive yet sensitive. Imagine Diebenkorn studying his model, the challenge of capturing her presence with such economy! Those long, continuous lines defining her legs and the chair—they're so assured. It's like he's mapping out the space, finding the essential forms with an intuitive grace. And then, that shadowy wash of ink across her upper body, creating depth and volume with the barest of means. It reminds me a bit of Matisse, that effortless line quality, but there's also something distinctly Diebenkorn about it. You see echoes of his later, more abstract paintings, that same concern with structure and composition. It's all connected, this ongoing conversation between artists, each one building on what came before, and pushing the boundaries of what painting can do.