Willem de Kooning: Paintings

De Kooning’s (1904–1997) life and work – from his origins in the Netherlands to his mature Long Island period – are presented through his paintings, vintage photographs of the artist and his contemporaries, and footage of his studio on Long Island. The film also explores his historical and cultural developments in the postwar period that shaped his art.

In the post-World War II era, de Kooning painted in a style that came to be referred to as abstract expressionism or action painting, and was part of a group of artists that came to be known as the New York School. Other painters in this group included Jackson Pollock, Elaine de Kooning, Lee Krasner, Franz Kline, Arshile Gorky, Mark Rothko, Hans Hofmann, Adolph Gottlieb, Anne Ryan, Robert Motherwell, Philip Guston, and Clyfford Still.

Thanks: National Gallery of Art, Washington