Biography of Willem De Kooning

The painter and sculptor Willem de Kooning is regarded as the father of Abstract Expressionism. Born in Rotterdam (Netherlands) in 1090, he obtains the American citizenship in 1962. The artist studies at the Academy of Fine Arts in his hometown, before studying in Brussels and working for a great designer. At the age of 21, in 1926, he sails clandestinely for the United States where he settles shortly in Hoboken (New Jersey), then goes to New York where he lives from “alimentary jobs”. In Greenwich Village, in the artists' quarter, he binds with the first American abstract artists (Stuart Davis, John Graham, etc.). In 1935, the young man decides to devote himself entirely to painting. He is interested in cubism and surrealism. Under the influence of surrealist exiled in New York during the war, and Jackson Pollock, he begins to paint in an automatic and more structured way. De Kooning - who has uploaded a particle to his name - becomes, particularly a friend of Arshile Gorky, with whom he shares a workshop (from 1947) and, like him, is interested both in abstraction and figuration. They are both inspired by Joan Miró and Picasso. Although de Kooning refuses any affiliation to any movement of art he considers to be “a hoax”, he is attached to the movement of abstract expressionism. In 1948, his first solo exhibition at the Charles Egan Gallery (New York) finally establishes his reputation as an artist of outstanding importance. In 1950, the artist launches a series on women entitled “Women” (a recurring theme), including representatives of Marilyn Monroe, followed by a series on Blacks in the United States. One starts talking about the famous "rose de Kooning". In 1968, a major retrospective of his work is presented at the Stedelijk Museum in Rotterdam then in the larger American museums. The following year (1969), the artist is initiated to sculpture. In 1989, Parkinson's disease disables him; in spite of that he still continues to paint and major exhibitions are organized on his behalf. Willem de Kooning dies in 1997; he is 92. That same year, a very important exhibition on his entire work is organized at the Museum of Modern Art in New York.