ARTIST OVERVIEW

Willem de Kooning (1904–1997) is considered one of the most important and influential American artists of the twentieth-century. A central figure in the development of the New York School of Abstract Expressionism, de Kooning's work epitomized the gestural, expressionistic style of paint handling termed “Action Painting” by the critic Harold Rosenberg. Although he was a pioneer of the postwar abstract expressionist movement, de Kooning's works never completely abandoned representation; even his most abstract works retain vestiges of physical reality. De Kooning's paintings are lauded for the equal emphasis given to technique and image; his celebrated, calligraphic line enabled him to balance the representative and the abstract within each work, with each element competing for dominance.

A native of Holland, de Kooning attended the prestigious Academie van Beeldende Kunsten in Rotterdam. The academic program emphasized the importance of classical training and his extraordinary talent as a draftsman was evident early on his training. After immigrating to America in 1926, he worked a series of odd jobs, most notably sign painting and window display, before turning to painting full-time.

De Kooning gained renown in 1948 with a series of black and white abstract paintings that debuted at the Charles Egan gallery in New York. In 1950, de Kooning completed Excavation, a triumphant synthesis of the black-and-white abstractions and his ongoing interest in the human form. The painting brought him widespread recognition and led to his inclusion in the 1950 Venice Biennial curated by the Museum of Modern Art’s Alfred Barr.

In the early 1950s, after a decade working primarily in the abstract mode, de Kooning returned to the female figure for inspiration. After a long period of artistic struggle, de Kooning completed Woman I in 1952. The painting caused an immediate sensation, both among the general public, because of the violent rendering of the female figure, and the cognoscenti, because of its emphasis on gestural representation. De Kooning's subsequent paintings of women executed in the 1950s and sixties stand as one of the most significant bodies of work of the last century. During this time, de Kooning also explored the abstract possibilities inherent in landscape painting, much of which was inspired by the land surrounding his home in The Springs, Long Island.

For the following two decades, de Kooning moved between pure abstraction and loose figuration and secured his reputation as one of America's most important painters. During this time he also experimented with sculpture, working primarily in bronze. By the 1970s, de Kooning abandoned representation and returned to abstraction. The late series of lyrical, spare, and abstract paintings that he started in the 1980s and worked on for the remainder of his career, despite the onslaught of Alzheimer's disease, are considered by some critics and historians to be among some of his most triumphant and life-affirming works.

Willem De Kooning's work is included in most major museums worldwide. The definitive biography of his life and work, De Kooning: An American Master (Alfred A. Knopf), written by Mark Stevens and Annalyn Swan, was published in 2004.

De Kooning's work is included in most major museums worldwide, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Museum of Modern Art in New York City; the Tehran Museum of Art; the Stedelijk Museum in his native Holland; and the Hirshhorn Museum. In 1998, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art mounted the Whitney Museum of American Art's stunning de Kooning retrospective.

1. David Rodgers: "Willem de Kooning" The Oxford Companion to Western Art. Ed. Hugh Brigstocke. Oxford University Press, 2001. Grove Art Online. Oxford University Press, 2005. [4/12/06], http://www.groveart.com/