Willem de Kooning

(American/Dutch, 1904–1997)

Willem de Kooning was a renowned American-Dutch painter that helped form the Abstract Expressionist movement. His gestural works—which were loosely based on figures, landscapes, and still lifes—helped establish a distinctly American style of painting. Perhaps De Kooning’s most famous series were his Woman paintings, inspired in part by Pablo Picasso’s work, they featured a wholly original approach to deconstructing the figure. “I don't paint with ideas of art in mind. I see something that excites me. It becomes my content,” the artist once explained. Born on April 24, 1904 in Rotterdam, Netherlands, De Kooning went on to study art in his hometown before traveling to the United States as a stowaway in 1926. He first lived in Hoboken, NJ, where he worked as a house painter and carpenter before settling in New York in 1927. In New York, he made a living as a commercial artist for window displays and fashion ads. A major turning point in his career was meeting Arshile Gorky, whose influence and friendship helped solidify De Kooning’s maturation as an artist in the 1930s. The artist’s wife Elaine de Kooning went on to become a notable painter in her own right. By the mid-1950s, De Kooning had moved away from the figure with works like Interchange (1955), which more closely resembled a landscape. Though the artist had fallen from the spotlight by the late 1960s, he continued to create distinctive works, living out on a farmhouse in Long Island. De Kooning died on March 19, 1997 in East Hampton, NY. Today, his works are held in the collections of The Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Art Institute of Chicago, the Tate Gallery in London, and the Kunstmuseum Basel, among others.

Willem de Kooning News

Art & Exhibitions

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Willem de Kooning Artworks

Willem de Kooning (3,420 results)

Woman II, 1952

Willem de Kooning

Woman II, 1952

Sale Date: May 12, 2021

Auction Closed

Woman

Willem de Kooning

Sale Date: May 12, 2021

Auction Closed

Untitled (Two Figures), 1975

Willem de Kooning

Untitled (Two Figures), 1975

Sale Date: May 13, 2021

Auction Closed

Untitled (Horse), 1983

Willem de Kooning

Untitled (Horse), 1983

Sale Date: May 13, 2021

Auction Closed

Woman, 1954–1974

Willem de Kooning

Woman, 1954–1974

Sale Date: April 29, 2021

Auction Closed

The Man and the Big Blonde, 1982

Willem de Kooning

The Man and the Big Blonde, 1982

Sale Date: May 5, 2021

Auction Closed

Rainbow: Thelonious Monk, Devil at the..., 1972–1976

Willem de Kooning

Rainbow: Thelonious Monk, Devil at the..., 1972–1976

Sale Date: April 22, 2021

Auction Closed

Clam Digger, Litho # 3 (from the 9 portfolio), 1966

Willem de Kooning

Clam Digger, Litho # 3 (from the 9 portfolio), 1966

Sale Date: April 22, 2021

Auction Closed

Untitled (from Self-Portrait in a Convex..., 1984

Willem de Kooning

Untitled (from Self-Portrait in a Convex..., 1984

Sale Date: April 22, 2021

Auction Closed

Untitled XLVIII 無題XLVIII, 1983

Willem de Kooning

Untitled XLVIII 無題XLVIII, 1983

Sale Date: April 19, 2021

Auction Closed

Souvenir of Montauk (G. 9), 1970

Willem de Kooning

Souvenir of Montauk (G. 9), 1970

Sale Date: April 21, 2021

Auction Closed

With Love (G. 28), 1971

Willem de Kooning

With Love (G. 28), 1971

Sale Date: April 21, 2021

Auction Closed

Rainbow: Thelonius Monk, Devil at the Keyboard, 1972

Willem de Kooning

Rainbow: Thelonius Monk, Devil at the Keyboard, 1972

Sale Date: April 13, 2021

Auction Closed

Poems by Frank O'Hara - Limited Editions Club, 1988

Willem de Kooning

Poems by Frank O'Hara - Limited Editions Club, 1988

Sale Date: April 13, 2021

Auction Closed

Paris Review

Willem de Kooning

Sale Date: April 29, 2021

Auction Closed

Walking Figure, 1970

Willem de Kooning

Walking Figure, 1970

Sale Date: March 18, 2021

Auction Closed

Two Women, 1973

Willem de Kooning

Two Women, 1973

Sale Date: March 23, 2021

Auction Closed

Head of a Woman, 1964

Willem de Kooning

Head of a Woman, 1964

Sale Date: March 23, 2021

Auction Closed

Untitled, 1967

Willem de Kooning

Untitled, 1967

Sale Date: March 12, 2021

Auction Closed

Two Figures, 1973

Willem de Kooning

Two Figures, 1973

Sale Date: March 24, 2021

Auction Closed

Untitled, 1968

Willem de Kooning

Untitled, 1968

Sale Date: March 11, 2021

Auction Closed

Untitled, 1975

Willem de Kooning

Untitled, 1975

Sale Date: March 10, 2021

Auction Closed

Landscape at Stanton Street, 1971

Willem de Kooning

Landscape at Stanton Street, 1971

Sale Date: March 10, 2021

Auction Closed

FIGURE AT GERARD BEACH, 1971

Willem de Kooning

FIGURE AT GERARD BEACH, 1971

Sale Date: February 21, 2021

Auction Closed

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