Untitled [reclining female nude with legs apart]
1955-1967
Image not available — this artwork is under copyright
View on museum website →Medium
brush and black ink on calendered paper
Dimensions
overall: 27.8 x 40.7 cm (10 15/16 x 16 in.)
Classification
Drawing
Department
CG-W
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Gift of Phyllis Diebenkorn
Accession Number
2000.141.48
Art Historical Context
Richard Diebenkorn's *Untitled [reclining female nude with legs apart]* (1955–1967) captures the artist's masterful command of line and form in a intimate drawing executed with brush and black ink smooth calendered paper. Measuring just 27.8 x 40.7 cm, this work exemplifies Diebenkorn's exploration of the female figure during his shift from Abstract Expressionism to the Bay Figurative movement in the mid-1950s. The reclining pose, with legs apart, evokes classical traditions of the nude while infusing them with modern vitality through fluid, gestural strokes that suggest volume and movement on...
About the Artist
Richard Diebenkorn
Richard Clifford Diebenkorn Jr. (1922-1993) was one of the premier American painters of the postwar era, whose deeply lyrical abstractions and figurative works evoked the shimmering light and wide-open spaces of California. Born in Portland, Oregon, and raised in San Francisco, Diebenkorn became a pivotal figure in elevating the status of California art on the international stage. His career encom...