De Kooning. Paintings 1960-1980

by Ralph Ubl, Bernhard Mendes Burgi (Editor), Klaus Kertess (Contributor)

Willem de Kooning is celebrated in the United States as one of the most significant artists of the twentieth century and a leading Abstract Expressionist. In Europe, however, the artist has yet to be fully recognized, particularly with regards to his work of the 1960s and 1970s, when he retreated from urban life to live and work on Long Island. This segment of de Kooning's oeuvre bears the imprint of a fundamental experience of the landscape, for it was in these Long Island works that he developed a new style of figuration, characterized by a transformed sense of color and energetic gesture. This period of vigorous, pioneering creativity is illuminated for the first time in this volume, which features a concentrated selection of large-format paintings. In images and essays by Klaus Kertess, Harold Rosenberg and others, the book illustrates how de Kooning's paintings--although recognizable as landscapes--grew abstract under the influence of his intense experience of nature.

Genres: Art

176 pages, Hardcover

First published November 15, 2005

Reviews

[Ed Smiley · Rating 3 out of 5]

The writing is the usual put-together job in a exhibition catalog. Not terrible, just sort of "critic-y" if you get my meaning, and some of the more juicy biographical details are glossed over. I have read this book once before at some point.

There is a well-chosen selection of 84 color plates. De Kooning is a well-loved well-hated artist. He has a way of making a painting make itself happen, inviting as much chaos and unresolved visual issues and handling of paint into a painting and reworking it continuously while keeping it looking like it has been painted with no effort, and releasing it into the world at some arbitrary point: his works are always unfinished, or cannot be finished. Then again, he can pare down his expression to a few gestures austere and simple, like his black and white paintings and his late ribbon paintings. Over the years he has won me over. So I enjoyed looking at the plates. Every time I look at his work I see something new. (If he's not your cup of tea, you may find this book less interesting, or even appalling.)

[robert · Rating 3 out of 5]

I guess there is alot of his art stuffed in Basel. De Kooning is up to his neck in art criticism bullshit. I ditched the laborious,spoiled, pretentious text and just want to look at his paintings myself, as fresh as possible, without the yak and the confusion of the art critics and their fussy mothers views which is always, always besides the point. People have not even begun to see De Kooning.