Painting
Willem de Kooning
American, born the Netherlands. 1904–1997
1948
A large enamel-and-oil canvas in which de Kooning piled aggressive black gestures, scraped back white passages, and dripped paint so the physical act of making becomes the subject.
You confront a restless tangle of shadowy, overlapping forms edged with scraped white lines and vertical drips that make the surface feel both carved and in motion.
Created amid postwar Abstract Expressionism, this painting helped redefine painting as a record of bodily action and material experiment, opening the way for process‑focused, gestural art.
Medium
Enamel and oil on canvas
Dimensions
42 5/8 x 56 1/8" (108.3 x 142.5 cm)
Classification
Department
Credit
Purchase
Accession
238.1948
Palette
Art Terms
Exhibitions
