Untitled [standing female nude] 1955 - 1967

Richard Diebenkorn made this drawing, Untitled [standing female nude], with graphite on paper. The lines are so simple, but they speak volumes. I can imagine Diebenkorn, in the studio, quickly capturing the essence of the figure with just a few strokes. It’s like he’s trying to understand the form and the space around it all at once. The texture of the graphite gives it a kind of rawness, like he wasn’t trying to be too precious about it. I bet he wasn't! It makes me think about how much can be said with so little. It's a reminder that sometimes the most powerful expressions are the ones that strip away the excess and get right to the heart of things. It feels intimate, like a private moment between the artist and the model, where they're both just trying to see and be seen.