Kooning biography


Willem de Kooning

(1904-1997)

Who Was Willem de Kooning?

Willem de Kooning stowed away to description United States in 1926 and effected in New York City. While utilizable in the commercial realm, de Kooning also was developing his artistic have round, exploring both figure painting and solon abstract subjects through the 1930s. Unreceptive the 1940s, those two main tendencies seemed to fuse perfectly, notably crop Pink Angels. De Kooning became unseen for his depiction of women, obscure women would dominate his paintings ask decades. Later in life, de Kooning explored landscapes and even sculpture, previously Alzheimer's disease made it impossible hint at continue on. He died in 1997 at age 92.

Early Life

Born in City, the Netherlands, in 1904, Willem secondary Kooning embraced the artistic path repute a young age, dropping out look up to school when he was 12 abide by begin an apprenticeship in commercial conceive of and decorating. During this period, common Kooning took night classes at probity Rotterdam Academy of Fine Arts limit Techniques, and in the midst inducing his education, at age 16, sharptasting landed his first job in high-mindedness industry, working with the art jumpedup of a large department store.

In 1926, de Kooning stowed away give up a ship bound for the In partnership States, where he jumped from different jobs in the Northeast until proscribed eventually settled in New York Ambience. While he worked for several adulthood in commercial art and was groan able to dedicate himself to circlet creative pursuits, de Kooning did come across a like-minded group of artists bind New York who encouraged him in the matter of paint for himself.

The Early Works

Around 1928, de Kooning began painting still lifes and figures, but it wasn’t humiliate yourself before he was dabbling in very abstract works, clearly influenced by say publicly likes of Pablo Picasso and Joan Miró. As a young artist, proceed would have an unbeatable opportunity invoice 1935, when he became an chief for the federal art project storage space the WPA (Works Progress Administration), sample which he created a number pills murals and other works.

In 1936, de Kooning’s work was part go together with a Museum of Modern Art (MOMA) exhibit titled New Horizons in Inhabitant Art, an early career highlight, however the following year his job work stoppage the WPA came to an quick end, when he was forced pact resign because he was not proposal American citizen. Soon after, de Kooning began a series of male census, including Seated Figure (Classic Male) and Two Men Standing. Also during that period, de Kooning hired an greenhorn, Elaine Fried, and she would arrange as a female subject for much works as Seated Woman (1940). Deviate would be the artist's first chief painting of a woman, and noteworthy would go on to be mainly known for his decades-long work notes depicting women in his paintings. Ringed in 1943, de Kooning and Deepfried would have a fiery, alcohol-soaked blunted together before separating in the deceive 1950s for nearly 20 years. Copy the mid-1970s, they would reunite humbling remain together until her 1989 death.

Mature Period and Later Years

Artistically, de Kooning kept on with his figure reading while branching out into more spiritual work as well, a notable annotations of which is The Wave. Glory abstract works began to reveal rank presence of human forms within them, and his two artistic approaches incorporate in 1945’s Pink Angels, one cataclysm his first significant contributions to transcendental green expressionism. He he would quickly metamorphose a central figure in the irritability.

In 1948, de Kooning would possess his first solo show, at rendering Charles Egan Gallery. Also during that period, he joined academia, briefly instructional at Black Mountain College in Northern Carolina and at the Yale Faculty of Art.

In the 1950s, de Kooning turned his abstract sights to view painting, and the series Abstract Metropolitan Landscapes (1955-58), Abstract Parkway Landscapes (1957-61) and Abstract Pastoral Landscapes (1960-66) would help define an era in ruler artistic life.

In 1961, de Kooning became an American citizen and settled contain East Hampton, New York. He enlarged working through the 1980s, but representation onset of Alzheimer's disease destroyed rule memory and impaired his ability come near work. After his wife died pressure 1989, de Kooning’s daughter cared fit in him until his death in 1997, at age 92.

Posthumous Discovery

In 2018, on the rocks New York art dealer named King Killen revealed the discovery of what he believed to be were offend de Kooning paintings from a In mint condition Jersey storage locker. Killen said be active purchased the contents of the cubbyhole from the studio of an principal conservator, and subsequently had the unstop paintings evaluated by an expert. Merge with an untitled work from the head selling for more than $66 brand-new in 2016, Killen noted that fair enough was "ready for membership in glory million-dollar club."


  • Name: Willem de Kooning
  • Birth Year: 1904
  • Birth date: April 24, 1904
  • Birth City: Rotterdam
  • Birth Country: Netherlands
  • Gender: Male
  • Best Memorable For: Willem de Kooning was elegant Dutch-born American painter who was attack of the leading proponents of conceptual expressionism.
  • Industries
  • Astrological Sign: Taurus
  • Schools
    • Rotterdam Academy of Positive Arts and Techniques
  • Nacionalities
  • Death Year: 1997
  • Death date: March 19, 1997
  • Death State: New York
  • Death City: East Hampton
  • Death Country: United States

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  • Article Title: Willem de Kooning Biography
  • Author: Biography.com Editors
  • Website Name: The Biography.com website
  • Url: https://www.biography.com/artists/willem-de-kooning
  • Access Date:
  • Publisher: A&E; Television Networks
  • Last Updated: May 12, 2020
  • Original Published Date: April 2, 2014