Seated Woman Drinking from a Cup

Richard Diebenkorn’s Berkeley years are often split into two categories: the abstract and the figurative. His initial interests between 1953-55 were focused on abstraction, especially with landscapes and the surrounding environment. However, between 1955-1966, Diebenkorn turned his attention from his widely recognized abstract work towards figurative and representational compositions. In 1965, Diebenkorn produced a series of seven lithographs that featured a seated female figure, including “Seated Woman Drinking from a Cup”. He worked together with Joseph Zirker at Original Press in San Francisco, a printer whom he had collaborated with previously at Tamarind Workshop in 1962. Diebenkorn’s ability to blend figuration with abstract elements is exemplified through these intimate portraits of the female form, weaving a throughline between the push-and-pull of abstraction and representations of the real world.