Untitled [gesturing figure] 1955 - 1967

Editor: Here we have Richard Diebenkorn's "Untitled [gesturing figure]," made sometime between 1955 and 1967 using ink. It's an interesting mix of abstraction and figuration; I see a body but also so much gestural linework. What's your interpretation? Curator: What strikes me is the confidence in these sweeping lines. The post-war art world saw a real grappling with the role of the figure. Artists were thinking about how to represent the body, or not, after such trauma. This feels like a dance between recognition and anonymity. Do you think the lack of precise detail makes it more universal? Editor: I hadn't thought about it like that, but that makes sense! The anonymity removes any specific identity and lets it be more of a general form. In this period, would most viewers be seeking escape in the non-representational or connection in depictions of the figure? Curator: It’s a push and pull. On one hand, abstraction offered a clean break from representational modes tied to propaganda. On the other hand, artists returning to the figure were perhaps trying to process the very real, physical consequences of war, attempting to make sense through familiar forms. Does this contrast give you any ideas about what Diebenkorn was trying to say? Editor: Maybe he was dealing with that tension, using figuration and abstraction to say something about shared humanity that you couldn't express any other way. I had never thought of the role of historical context in analyzing works that aren’t portraits, exactly, but hint at the figure. Thanks for pointing this out! Curator: It's been insightful to rethink this piece with you! Analyzing how society shapes what art is made, and how it is received, has a lasting impact on interpretation.