Willem de Kooning
Currently working on this… more text coming soon.
When: 1904-1997
Where: From Europe. Practiced in NYC and the Hamptons.
What: Abstract Expressionism and mark making.
Notable: Wife was Elaine de Kooning
I’m not an expert in de Kooning by any means. I’m writing this to support thoughts i have on contemporary art. I am of the opionion that de Kooning was the most important artist of the illustrious New York School.
Who is de Kooning?
I’m not going to go too far into de Kooning’s biography since you can link to a deeper Wiki article on his history. Born in Rotterdam, de Kooningwent to work at a commercial drafting firm at around 12 years of age and studied at a local art institute. In 1926 he traveled to the US where he practiced commercial art and formed friendships with other artists (Stuart Davis, Arshile Gorky, and John Graham) and formed the New York School of art over alcohol at the Cedar Green tavern with artists such as (Jackson Pollock, Elaine de Kooning, Lee Krasner, Franz Kline, Mark Rothko, Hans Hofmann, Adolph Gottlieb, Robert Motherwell, Philip Guston, Clyfford Still).
Excavation 1950
This painting is considered by many to be de Koonings first ‘mature’ work.
I think de Kooning became the force he became with the series of women paintings worked on from around 1950-53.
I can relate to you if you are looking at these and scratching your head going ‘What????’ I’ll try to explain why these are great.
How I came to understand what makes de Kooning great:
It took me a long time to fully appreciate de Kooning as an artist. When I first saw his work, I didn’t understand what I was looking at and found it wanting. I got to see a show of de Koonings drawings that floored me.