Artist: Willem de Kooning

Willem de Kooning (1904–1997) was born in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, and later moved to the United States. He was one of the most important Abstract Expressionist artists of the 20th century and a central figure in the New York School. Both Tate and Britannica classify him as a Dutch-American Abstract Expressionist painter; Britannica also identifies him as an important exponent of Action Painting.

A well-known aspect of his work is that he does not completely separate the “abstract” from the “figurative.” He painted figures early in his career and later moved into abstraction, but traces of bodies, landscapes, women, cities, and light often remain in his images. In other words, rather than simply painting geometric shapes, he breaks the real world apart and reassembles it in an intense, emotional way.

De Kooning’s brushwork often has a palpable physicality, and his paintings seem to be constantly changing. This is part of their appeal: they do not hang quietly on the wall but seem still to be breathing, struggling, and moving.

Artwork title: Villa Borghese Poster dimensions: ５０＊７０cm

Artist: Willem de Kooning. Year: 1960. Medium: oil on canvas. Dimensions: approximately 203 × 178 cm.

This work was inspired by Rome's Villa Borghese. The Guggenheim's description notes that de Kooning spent about five months in Rome between 1959 and 1960, and that the work's title refers to the city's famous public park. Its Mediterranean colors evoke sunshine, sky, water, and grass.

This work is brighter than A Tree in Naples. The yellow-green resembles a grassy slope lit by the sun, while the horizontal dark-blue brushstrokes suggest water or shadow. Overall, it has the expansive feeling of an “Italian afternoon.” What makes de Kooning remarkable, though, is that he does not turn the landscape into a pretty postcard. He turns it into a physical action—pushing, smearing, sweeping, scraping—as if remembering a place through color.

Artist: Willem de Kooning. Year: 1960. Medium: oil on canvas. Dimensions: approximately 203 × 178 cm.

Willem de Kooning (1904–1997) was born in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, and later moved to the United States. He was one of the most important Abstract Expressionist artists of the 20th century and a central figure in the New York School. Both Tate and Britannica classify him as a Dutch-American Abstract Expressionist painter; Britannica also identifies him as an important exponent of Action Painting.

A well-known aspect of his work is that he does not completely separate the “abstract” from the “figurative.” He painted figures early in his career and later moved into abstraction, but traces of bodies, landscapes, women, cities, and light often remain in his images. In other words, rather than simply painting geometric shapes, he breaks the real world apart and reassembles it in an intense, emotional way.

De Kooning’s brushwork often has a palpable physicality, and his paintings seem to be constantly changing. This is part of their appeal: they do not hang quietly on the wall but seem still to be breathing, struggling, and moving.