Untitled [woman reclining in a seat] 1955 - 1967

Richard Diebenkorn made this drawing of a woman reclining in a seat with graphite on paper. It's all about the line, isn't it? It’s so spare, so immediate. You can feel him feeling his way around the form, testing the waters with each stroke. I really love the way Diebenkorn allows us to see his process. Nothing is hidden here, no attempt to conceal the searching, the adjustments, the second guesses. Look closely at her hands, folded across her chest. See how the lines overlap, creating a sense of depth and volume with just a few marks? It's like he's building the form from the inside out, letting us witness its emergence. This reminds me of Matisse's line drawings, that same effortless elegance, that sense of capturing the essence of a form with the fewest possible strokes. With Diebenkorn, as with Matisse, drawing becomes a kind of meditation, a way of seeing and being in the world. It’s all about the push and pull.