Close to the avant-gardes in New York, Willem de Kooning nevertheless does not want his art to be assimilated with any school. He observes that oil painting is the ideal technique for simulating flesh. In 1950 he begins painting a larger-than-life woman on a canvas 197 x 147 cm. He reworks it for months with his brushes and his knives and considers it as finished in June 1952 thanks to the intervention of a friend.
In late 1952 and in 1953 the artist makes new versions of his woman. This ideal woman is a synthesis between the opulent Paleolithic statuettes of fertility and a grotesque vixen of modern time.
This work resulted in the side-by-side exhibition of six paintings titled Woman I to Woman VI. They are standing in similar frontal positions. The bright and varied colors of the clothes could simulate according to the artist the evolution of the fashions. De Kooning demonstrates here that Action painting was not incompatible with a figurative theme.
I to VI are not the only artworks on this theme. This series did not include a Woman with Bicycle painted in 1952 in the same style but in a slightly different attitude. Oils on paper are made in smaller sizes.
In 1955 the artist continues his experiments in Long Island. On November 13 in New York, Christie's sells Woman as Landscape, oil and charcoal on canvas 166 x 125 cm, lot 7 B estimated $ 60M.
The colors of a landscape with its blue sky and green ground surround the woman. The title is significant with 'as landscape' and not 'in landscape' to indicate that the artist is ready to mix the genres. Indeed at the end of the year he returns to abstract compositions in which his figurative intentions, when they exist, are intertwined and can only be deciphered by him.
SOLD for $ 69M including premium
In late 1952 and in 1953 the artist makes new versions of his woman. This ideal woman is a synthesis between the opulent Paleolithic statuettes of fertility and a grotesque vixen of modern time.
This work resulted in the side-by-side exhibition of six paintings titled Woman I to Woman VI. They are standing in similar frontal positions. The bright and varied colors of the clothes could simulate according to the artist the evolution of the fashions. De Kooning demonstrates here that Action painting was not incompatible with a figurative theme.
I to VI are not the only artworks on this theme. This series did not include a Woman with Bicycle painted in 1952 in the same style but in a slightly different attitude. Oils on paper are made in smaller sizes.
In 1955 the artist continues his experiments in Long Island. On November 13 in New York, Christie's sells Woman as Landscape, oil and charcoal on canvas 166 x 125 cm, lot 7 B estimated $ 60M.
The colors of a landscape with its blue sky and green ground surround the woman. The title is significant with 'as landscape' and not 'in landscape' to indicate that the artist is ready to mix the genres. Indeed at the end of the year he returns to abstract compositions in which his figurative intentions, when they exist, are intertwined and can only be deciphered by him.
SOLD for $ 69M including premium
#AuctionUpdate Willem de Kooning's tour-de-force painting, 'Woman as Landscape' achieves $68,937,500 at auction, setting a new #WorldAuctionRecord for the artist https://t.co/mhk5ge5olM pic.twitter.com/C2wNRva4hZ
— Christie's (@ChristiesInc) November 14, 2018
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