Untitled [sleeping woman]
1955-1967
Image not available — this artwork is under copyright
View on museum website →Medium
blue ball-point pen on wove paper
Dimensions
overall: 21.7 x 28 cm (8 9/16 x 11 in.)
Classification
Drawing
Department
CG-W
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Gift of Phyllis Diebenkorn
Accession Number
2000.141.98
Art Historical Context
Richard Diebenkorn's *Untitled [sleeping woman]*, created between 1955 and 196, captures an intimate moment of repose in a delicate blue ball-point pen drawing on wove paper. just 21.7 x 28 cm, this modest sheet exemplifies Diebenkorn's masterful draftsmanship during his Bay Area Figurative period, when he shifted from the bold abstractions of his earlier career to more personal, observational studies of the human form. The extended creation date suggests it was a sustained exploration, perhaps reworked over years—a hallmark of the artist's reflective process. The use of everyday blue ball-po...
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...