De Kooning’s Woman Paintings of the Forties and Fifties
Open Access
- Author:
- Dabney, Joseph Aaron
- Area of Honors:
- Art History
- Degree:
- Bachelor of Arts
- Document Type:
- Thesis
- Thesis Supervisors:
- Nancy Elizabeth Locke, Thesis Supervisor
Dr. Elizabeth J Walters, Thesis Honors Advisor - Keywords:
- Willem de Kooning
De Kooning
Abstract Expressionism
The New York School
Woman I
Chaim Soutine
Arshile Gorky
Pablo Picasso - Abstract:
- Willem de Kooning, one of the cornerstones of abstract expressionism, began his career as a young artist by studying at the Rotterdam Academy of Fine Arts and Applied Sciences, whose curriculum emphasized detail and life drawing. De Kooning’s early work therefore parallels Realism and classical composition. However, after emigrating to America on July 18, 1926, De Kooning began an artistic progression that spanned over five decades. He explored concepts related to Realism, Cubism, and Surrealism, never constraining himself to one idea or movement, but instead tethering motifs together. He combined ideas and techniques from multiple styles and refused to settle into a single mode of expression. Woman I and De Kooning’s Woman paintings of the 1950s are examples of eclectic works that not only contain elements of various art movements, but more importantly represent a breakthrough for De Kooning. De Kooning’s Woman paintings are chaotic, unrefined portraits whose vibrant colors call to mind graffiti and vandalism. They are vulgar images that reflect a distinct difference among the past and avant-garde. This thesis seeks to explain what inspired De Kooning’s Woman paintings of the 1950s and why these works should be seen as a turning point in De Kooning’s career.