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Mar 19, 1997 · One of the most prominent and celebrated of the Abstract Expressionist painters, Willem de Kooning's pictures typify the vigorous, gestural style of the movement. Perhaps more than any of his contemporaries, he developed a radically abstract style of painting that fused Cubism, Surrealism and Expressionism.
De Kooning was born in the Netherlands, but active primarily in the United States. He was a leading figure of Abstract Expressionism. His style strongly influenced art after World War II.
By Lawrence Alloway. ONE OF THOSE EXHIBITIONS that originate out of town and never come to New York City is “De Kooning: Drawings/Sculptures.” Originated by the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis, the show has traveled to Ottawa, Washington D.C., and Buffalo and will close in Houston.
In part it was a turning away from the model of Pablo Picasso, which since the 1930s had overshadowed the work of de Kooning's generation—and de Kooning's own work perhaps most of all—to that of Henri Matisse, in particular the late Matisse of colored silhouettes scattered over white paper fields.
Between 1950 and 1953, de Kooning made the series for which he is best known, the Women, and this painting from approximately 1952 is a fine example of the subject. The small scale of this painting on paper belies both the potency of the iconic image and the dramatic dynamism of the vigorous, gestural brushwork.
De Kooning as sculptor: Seated Woman on a Bench, bronze of 1972 (cast 1976), in the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden. De Kooning painted women regularly in the early and late 1940s, but it was not until 1950 that he began to explore the female subject exclusively.
Sep 18, 2011 · Sep 18, 2011–Jan 9, 2012. This is the first major museum exhibition devoted to the full scope of the career of Willem de Kooning, widely considered to be among the most important and prolific artists of the 20th century.
