Willem de Kooning (1904-1997)


Nationality:
American; Born in the Netherlands

Movement:
Abstract Expressionism

Education:
Rotterdam Academie van Beeldende Kunsten; Académie Royale des Beaux-Arts

Life/Lifestyle:
Willem de Kooning was born in Rotterdam, Switzerland in 1904. He received a classical training in Europe but the fascination of America brought him to New York as an illegal alien in 1962. The immigration officials never found out, and he soon became a key member of the New York school of Abstract Expressionists including Jackson Pollack, Mark Rothko and Arshile Gorky. In the 1980's he began to suffer from dementia but continued to paint with the help of assistants. He died in 1997, at the age of 92.

Style/Significance:
While Abstract Expressionism served to push the artist toward complete abstraction, de Kooning always held a figurative sense in his paintings. The Abstract Expressionists believed that the greatest expressions come out of spontaneity—which is a key element in de Kooning's work, but what sets him off from other Abstract Expressionists is the presence of a subject. De Kooning is best known for his bold and violent portrayal of women. His brushstrokes are as free and spontaneous as other Abstract Expressionists, but the relationship between the abstract and the figure is present. Even in such paintings as Excavation where there is no dominant figure and lacking an objective sense, the freedom of the brush and certain details, such as teeth, still arguably qualifies it as a "figure painting."

Famous Pieces:
Woman I
Marilyn Monroe