As the de facto leader of the New York avant-garde art movement of the 1950s known as Abstract Expressionism, Dutch-American painter Willem de Kooning blended figuration and abstraction in a revolutionary manner that has resonated for decades. His best-known paintings, which were most often of women but gesturally abstract, were unique and incredibly influential at the time. Today, de Kooning is widely considered one of the most important artists of the 20th century.
De Kooning trained in fine and commercial arts at the Rotterdam Academy in his hometown of Rotterdam, the Netherlands, before immigrating to the United States in 1926. His first job in America was as a house painter in New Jersey, and the period left an indelible impression on him as he brought large brushes, loose strokes and fluid paints into his work as an artist. He also worked on public murals under President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s Works Progress Administration (WPA) program in the 1930s. De Kooning’s studies weren’t executed but they included some of his first abstractions, which showed the influence of like-minded artists as well as the music of the Jazz Age. His broad foundation in classical drawing and physical labor are evident even in the most abstract of his works, which amounted to a fusion of Cubism, Expressionism and Surrealism.
It was in New York that de Kooning found the space and an abundance of inspiration to pursue art full time. Surrounded by prominent artists like Jackson Pollock, Arshile Gorky, Lee Krasner and Fernand Léger, de Kooning drew from the freedom and boldness with which they all approached their work. In 1943, he married Elaine de Kooning, a versatile and immensely talented New York painter with a significant role in the Abstract Expressionist movement.
A major motif in de Kooning’s work is the deconstructed female form. A collection of paintings demonstrative of this is now known as his “Woman” series of the early 1950s, which remains controversial more than half a century later. Drawing inspiration from photography in magazines and using vivid colors and expressive brushstrokes to unforgettable effect, de Kooning depicted his subjects as grotesque, sexualized and loosely abstracted forms, which many critics deemed angry and misogynistic. But it is this very fearlessness in visual and conceptual experimentation that made de Kooning a crucial figure of Abstract Expressionism.
Today, de Kooning’s work is among the most coveted art in the world. His Interchange (1955), with its bold lines and shapes executed in primary colors, is one of the most expensive paintings ever sold.
Find a collection of Willem de Kooning art on 1stDibs.
Willem De Kooning Abstract on Newspaper
By Willem de Kooning
Located in Dallas, TX
Willem de Kooning (Dutch, 1904 - 1997) Abstract oil on Newspaper (NY Times, Friday Jan. 26, 1973). Pencil signed lower left. Provenance: - Private Collector, East Hampton New York;...
Oil, Newsprint
Willem De Kooning Abstract on Newsprint
By Willem de Kooning
Located in Dallas, TX
Willem de Kooning (Dutch, 1904 - 1997) Abstract Oil on Newspaper painting (NY Times, Friday Jan. 26, 1973). Pencil signed lower right. Provenance: - Private Collector, East Hampton...
Canvas, Oil
Price Upon Request
Woman in a Rowboat
By Willem de Kooning
Located in Palm Desert, CA
A painting by Willem de Kooning. "Woman in a Rowboat" is an abstract, oil on paper laid on masonite painting executed in a lush and swirling palette primarily of greens, whites, beiges and yellow and depicting an abstracted, nude woman in a boat by Post War artist Willem de Kooning. "Woman in a Rowboat" is a seminal work by de Kooning that has a new fluidity which relates to his next major series of Woman paintings which he began in 1964. Signed lower left, "de Kooning.” Provenance: Allan Stone Gallery, New York Private Collection, New York Private Collection, Arizona Exhibition: North Hampton, Smith College Museum of Art; Cambridge, The New Gallery, Charles Hayden Memorial Library, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Willem de Kooning: a Retrospective from Public and Private Collections, April – June 1965 (Cambridge only) New York, Allan Stone Gallery, De Kooning/Cornell, February – March 1965 Rotterdam, Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, American Paintings, September - October 1966, cat. no. 26 Dublin, The Royal Dublin Society, Rosc'67:The Poetry of Vision, November – December 1967, p. 201, illustrated Detroit, J.L. Hudson, Willem de Kooning: Three Decades of Painting, March – April 1968, no. 31 (exhibition checklist) Easthampton, Gild Hall...
Masonite, Paper, Oil
"Carmel California" Impressionist Landscape
By Forrest Moses
Located in Austin, TX
By Forrest Moses (American, b. 1934) Carmel California, 1967 Medium: Oil on Canvas Size: 18" x 24" Framed Size: 22.5" x 28.5" Signed: front, bottom ...
Canvas, Oil
Sold|$3,500
H 30 in W 40 in D 2 in
WILD HORSES-1, Original Signed Contemporary Abstract Expressionist Painting
Located in Boston, MA
WILD HORSES-1, Original Contemporary Abstract Expressionist Painting, 2021 30" x 40" x 2" (HxWxD) Oil and Newspaper on Canvas Hand-signed by the artist. This large-format oil painti...
Canvas, Oil, Newsprint
$2,160Sale Price|40% Off
H 40 in W 40 in
AWH 103 Original Textural Abstract Colorfield Modern Oil Painting, Signed, 40 in
By Bernhard Zimmer
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Bernhard Zimmer produces deeply layered, subtly textured abstract paintings that contain diametrically opposed elements—order and chaos, abstraction and representation, boldness and ...
Canvas, Mixed Media, Oil
Pink & Yellow Figurative Abstract
By Les Anderson
Located in Soquel, CA
Bold abstract painting with pink, yellow, black, brown and white forms by Les (Leslie Luverne) Anderson (American, 1928-2009). From the es...
Masonite, Oil
$62,110Sale Price|30% Off
H 41 in W 32.5 in D 2 in
Dark & Atmospheric Abstract Expressionist Art by Contemporary British Painter
By Angela Wakefield
Located in Preston, GB
Dark & Atmospheric Abstract Expressionist Painting by Contemporary British Painter Angela Wakefield - a rare early work. Entitled 'Accrington ...
Gesso, Canvas, Cotton, Paint, Varnish, Cotton Canvas, Mixed Media, Oil, ...
$386Sale Price|20% Off
H 20 in W 25.75 in D 0.1 in
Large French Abstract Painting with Cut Out Collage Artwork Listed Artist
By Bernard Herzog
Located in Cirencester, Gloucestershire
Stunning and completely unique one of a kind original artwork - by the well listed French abstract painter, Bernard Herzog (b.1935). During the latter part of his career, like Henr...
House Paint, Magazine Paper, Newsprint
$2,320Sale Price|20% Off
H 41.74 in W 20.87 in D 0.4 in
Abstract Composition N°3 by Vivaldo Martini - Oil on masonite 53x106 cm
By Vivaldo Martini
Located in Geneva, CH
His first name sounds like a concerto. Vivacious, its name is reminiscent of an aperitif or a cyclist. The addition of the two evokes the Italianate. Indomitable and unavoidable. Mor...
Oil, Masonite
"Remember" Abstract Landscape Painting
Located in Westport, CT
This abstract painting by Kelly Rossetti is made with oil and acrylic paint on gallery wrapped canvas. It features loose, gestural brush strokes and a light palette with light blue, ...
Canvas, Oil, Acrylic
$5,850
H 48 in W 72 in
Running Wild - Large Contemporary Color Drenched Abstract Organic Shape Painting
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Harrison Gilman's large original artworks begin with a layer of fast-paced gestural abstraction followed by organic shapes and geometric structures. Some of his paintings remain in t...
Canvas, Mixed Media, Oil
$1,800
H 40 in W 30 in D 0.13 in
Mid-Century Abstract Expressionist Composition with Blue, Purple, and Pink
By Les Anderson
Located in Soquel, CA
Mid-Century Abstract Expressionist Composition with Blue, Purple, and Pink Colorful mid-century abstract expressionist painting by Les (Leslie Luverne) Anderson (American, 1928-2009...
Masonite, Oil
$1,480Sale Price|20% Off
H 48 in W 32 in D 1 in
Mid Century Abstract Expressionist Painting
By Leslie Luverne Anderson
Located in Soquel, CA
Colorful abstract expressionist piece by Les (Leslie Luverne) Anderson (American, 1928-2009) that lends itself to either vertical or horizontal orientat...
Masonite, Oil
$1,134
H 30.32 in W 26.58 in D 1.97 in
French Abstract Expressionist Oil on Canvas, Les Alliance au Crepuscule
Located in Cotignac, FR
French late 20th Century Abstract Expressionist oil on canvas by Abstrus. The painting is signed bottom right and signed titled and dated to the rear stretcher. Presented in a fine b...
Canvas, Oil
Untitled 1975 - Original Oil on Canvas, Signed
By Willem de Kooning
Located in Paris, IDF
Willem DE KOONING Untitled, c. 1970/75 Original oil on canvas Signed bottom left On canvas 50.8 x 76.2 cm (c. 20 x 30 inch) Presented in a black frame 64 x 89 cm (c. 26 x 36 inch) ...
Oil
Untitled
By Willem de Kooning
Located in New Orleans, LA
Willem de Kooning1904-1997 Dutch-American Untitled Oil on paper on canvas Signed de Kooning 78 (lower right) With his unprecedented artistic exploration, Willem de Kooning is celebrated as one of the most critically important artists of the 20th century. A founding member of Abstract Expressionism, his canvases reflect the unpredictable experience of life, filtered through his highly unique and unbridled painterly expression. Exceeding the confines of paint and canvas, as well as the boundaries of representation and abstraction, this untitled work from 1978 represents the artist's mastery over both medium and muse. A veritable assault on the canvas, Untitled embodies the unrestrained, visceral execution of de Kooning's greatest works. His nearly frantic brushwork and heavy lines delineate a distorted, fleshy female form, a recurrent motif in de Kooning's oeuvre. With his lifelong devotion to the female form, de Kooning was singular among the Abstract Expressionists for his commitment to the figurative. Considered today one of the most important figures in American art history, de Kooning was born in 1904 in Rotterdam, Netherlands. In his youth, he attended evening classes at the academy of fine arts in Rotterdam, now known as the Willem de Kooning Academia. From an early age, he was drawn to the near-abstract forms of Cubism, and the influence of Picasso in particular is felt throughout de Kooning's oeuvre. He came to the United States at the age of 22 as a penniless stowaway on a British freighter, and eventually joined the art colony in Woodstock, New York. Making his way to New York City, he met some of the artist's active in the Modernist movement in Manhattan, most notably Arshile Gorky. During this period, de Kooning began painting still life and figural works, but it was not long before he moved towards abstraction. By 1936, de Kooning's work was hanging in the Museum of Modern Art in New York, and he soon joined Jackson Pollock and Mark Rothko as a leader of America's first great modern art movement: Abstract Expressionism. Circa 1978 Frame: 32 5/8" high x 27 7/8" wide Canvas: 23 3/4" high x 18 7/8" wide Provenance: Purchased from Willem de Kooning by his dentist Private Collection of dentist, New York until 2008 Private Collection M.S. Rau Antiques...
Oil, Paper
Untitled
By Willem de Kooning
Located in Palm Desert, CA
oil on newspaper Provenance: Matthew Marks Gallery
Newsprint, Oil