A Profile of Willem de Kooning

Born in Rotterdam, Holland but later settling in Long Island, USA, Willem de Kooning (1904-1997) was a leading artist of the abstract expressionist school along with other artists; Jackson Pollock, Franz Kline, Arshile Gorky, Mark Rothko and Barnett Newman.

Following eight years of learning art at the Rotterdam Academy of Fine Arts and Techniques, de Kooning arrived in the United States in 1926. De Kooning settled in a Manhattan studio in 1927 following which he came under the influence of artist and critic John D. Graham and also befriended Arshile Gorky with whom he formed a close bond. De Kooning's first opportunity to indulge his creative genes came when he was appointed to work in the WPA Federal Art Project. He was involved in easel-painting and murals till he resigned in 1937.

In 1938 de Kooning, influenced by Arshile Gorky, brought out the paintings 'Two Men Standing', 'Seated Figure' and 'Man' that depict male figures. The same time he had worked on two series of abstractions entitled 'Pink Landscape' and 'Elegy'. Gradually, de Kooning seemed to move from abstract art to figurative abstract art, blending these two trends became a characteristic of de Kooning's art in the 1940s. Works of the period that display this fusion of the abstract and the figurative are 'Woman', 'Standing Man', and the ultimate example, 'Pink Angels'.

From 1946 onwards de Kooning brought out a series of black and white renditions created with enamels - 'Light in August' (1946), 'Zurich' (1947), 'Mailbox' (1947-8) and 'Black Friday' (1948).

In 1950 Willem de Kooning embarked on his most famous and representative abstract art - the 'Woman' series. De Kooning had already dealt with the subject of women in the 1940s but now he would devote himself fully to its study. 'Woman I' began in 1950 and was completed in 1952. The Woman series continued until 'Woman VI' which created a ripple in the art world these pieces were quite distinct from the art of the other Abstract Expressionists. Though the figure of the woman is visible in de Kooning's art, it isn't a strict form and it degenerates into a mix of colours and textures. This combination of expressionism and traditional forms - the constant and the ambiguous - made de Kooning's works the most colourful of all Abstract Expressionists paintings of the time. The imagery of the Woman series was the result of agitated brushwork combined with the use of high-key colours. It brings out a woman alive with all the sexual emotions of modern man.

Towards the early 1960s De Kooning headed towards pure abstract art with the focus shifting from human figures to landscape. 'Bolton Landing' (1957) and 'Door to the River' (1960) feature similarities with the work of another artist of the Abstract Expressionism movement, Franz Kline, in the broad brushstrokes and calligraphic tendencies. De Kooning also embarked on his first sculptures modelled in clay and cast in bronze in Rome in 1969, while in 1970-71 he was involved in creating life-size figures. In 1979 de Kooning also received the Andrew W. Mellon Prize while the Museum of Modern Art held a retrospective exhibition on de Kooning in 1997.

This representative figure of Abstract Expressionism died on March 12, 1997 after creating some late works that haven't been studied yet. These paintings seem to move into a new direction and display new trends, but have borne the brunt of gossip and negative criticism.